


The Hostage

by Athaia



Series: Planet of the Apes: Hunted [4]
Category: Planet of the Apes (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Fan Reboot, Gen, Post-Apocalypse, episode based
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2018-12-16 20:42:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 33,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11836683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Athaia/pseuds/Athaia
Summary: The fugitives stumble upon a mixed human-ape group of rebels, and suddenly find themselves in the middle of a power struggle between the human rights group and the local prefect. The rebels try to use the prefect’s niece as a bargaining tool, and Burke is given a deadline of fourty-eight hours to negotiate her release - or Virdon will be executed.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the script by Stephen Candle (unaired episode)
> 
> I overhauled this story because I wasn't happy with the Pete/Katlin romance - it was too abrupt, and just didn't feel organic. I not only added to the existing scenes, I wrote a brand new one, too, and I hope the P/K ship works better now; I'd love to get your feedback about it. If you have any suggestions how to make it better, don't hesitate to let me know in the comments! I don't usually write romance, so I'm grateful for any hints and tips. Katlin will make a return, and I'm planning great things with her.
> 
> Many thanks to my fabulous beta Nay for helping me find alll the mistakes, and getting that romance off the ground. If it doesn't get off the ground, it's my fault, not hers.

They ran into the patrol shortly before sunset.

After Galen's accident in the woods some weeks ago, Virdon had decided against hiking cross country in the middle of the night; they now traveled during the day, keeping to lonely trails and deer tracks that meandered through the hills. He had said they should risk it, since Urko seemed to have called off the search parties in the meantime - he must have come to the conclusion that they had somehow managed to slip through his fingers again.

If they had in fact traveled during all those days that Polar had kept them out of sight of the patrols, Burke calculated, they'd be more than a hundred miles away from the ape capital by now. In reality, they had been heading straight west in the past days, trying to get out of Urko-controlled territory as quickly as possible. The western parts bordered on one of the mysterious „forbidden zones" - ape density was pretty low there.

Just their luck that they had to find apes in a region that was supposed to be mostly free of them, Burke thought darkly, while the guard rifled through Galen's faked papers. They were „real" fakes, using authentic paper and Zaius' seal - come to think about it, Galen had quite the criminal energy given the opportunity. Still, they didn't know how far and fast news of their stunt in the council building was traveling around these parts, and whether the guard knew that this particular seal was compromised.

Burke surreptitiously wiped the sweat off his upper lip.

The other guard was coming over to Virdon and him, and Burke tried to look casual. The chimp gave them a bored once-over and ordered them to put their backpacks down. Then he went to tear at their necklines to expose the right shoulderblade; then the left.

„Take off your shirts."

Burke dared to frown at him over his shoulder. „What for?"

That got him a cuff upside the head. „For checking your brand, boy. Now get to it."

Burke hesitated. Virdon and he had no branding - Galen hadn't dared to go  _ that _ far with the authentic looks - but they couldn't get rid of the ritual scars the jungle tribe had forced on them when they had crashed into their reservation, and he was pretty sure that those were part of their „wanted" posters that Urko must've been sticking at doors and lampposts all over ape country. Exposing his chest to that ape was a risk he wasn't willing to take.

Finally, he just dragged his hemline up to his neck, exposing his whole back, but keeping his front covered above the navel and to his relief, the ape was content with that, though not with the result of his inspection.

„Don't you have a brand anywhere?" He began to pull down Burke's pants.

„Hey!" Burke grabbed his waistband.

„We didn't brand our humans," Zana stepped in. „It's cruel."

The guard gave her an exasperated 'Mothers, one of  _ those!' _ look, but just growled, „Show me their papers, then," and left Burke alone.

He breathed lighter once the guards had remounted and vanished around a thicket. „Why the hell were those chimps haunting  _ this _ trail?" he asked no one in particular and kicked at the weeds overgrowing the path. „It's not even a cart track!"

Galen leaned heavily on his walking stick; he had gotten rid of his crutches the other day and looked like he was just missing a top hat for his outfit now. „This prefecture has had some problems with strays," he said. „I believe they had introduced a new human control directive last summer. That means tighter controls, even on, on offroad tracks like this one." He shrugged when Burke glared at him. „They did seem to accept our papers just fine."

„Does that mean I have to strip every other mile until we're out of this police state?" Burke demanded to know.

„Let's hope not," Virdon commented and adjusted his backpack. „It would slow us down quite a bit."

„Well, if that's your only problem..." Burke muttered and bent down to retrieve his own load. It was awfully light for his taste. „We need to stock up on food," he said, and saw Virdon frown. „Unless you want to go a-hunting. No? Thought so."

„It's not that easy," Galen cautioned. „Since the prefect introduced the HCD... the human control directive," he explained at Burke's stare, „humans need a written permit to even leave their own settlements. Curfew at sundown. I read the reports when I was Zaius' assistant, their movement has been severely restricted. You can't just walk into a village and ask for the market. I don't even know if they can still hold them."

"Surely we won't get into trouble as long as we're with you," Virdon argued.

"Just into strip searches," Burke muttered.

„Well, I'm sure I can buy us food  _ somewhere _ ," Zana said and began to march ahead. „As an ape, I can go wherever I want. And as you said, they accept our papers. According to our map, there is a village about a mile ahead, if I remember right - we'll be there long before sunset."

_ Yeah, you can go wherever you want, _ Burke thought to himself as he trudged behind her.  _ That's something I could do, too - when this was still a planet of humans. _

* * *

The village seemed to be half asleep; people were lingering in the doorways or sitting on the benches in front of their huts, the women mending clothes, the men playing some board game. A small band of workers came home from the fields, a single rider trailing them like a prison guard. Yes, Virdon thought as he let his gaze wander over the scene, the whole village had a gloomy atmosphere hanging overhead; the people were resigned, frustrated. Prisoners, on life without parole.

His group hadn't yet left the woods, but were crouched down in the grass at the treeline - he had wanted to get an overview of the situation first. As far as he could see, there were two guards on horseback in the village, although he suspected that more were patrolling the outskirts. Virdon wondered how many human settlements this prefecture had, and if every one of them was afforded the luxury of its own warden crew. It had to be a drain on this prefecture's resources, but perhaps they had been granted a special war budget from Zaius. The thought left a bad taste in his mouth.

„I'd say we wait here with Galen," he murmured uneasily to Zana, „and you get in and out as quickly as possible. I don't like what I'm seeing down there - people seem to have given up, but you never know what's brewing below the surface. I don't want us to be in the middle of a revolt all of a sudden."

„Look," Burke whispered behind him. Virdon turned and followed his gaze.

A young woman was trotting along a hedge on bare feet, looking casual, but moving away now from the last house, and heading for the edge of the forest. The last beams of the setting sun lit up on her chestnut hair, turning it into a flaming copper that stood out against the dark green like a signal light. Virdon involuntarily glanced to where the chimps were circling the villagers. The woman wasn't exactly invisible...

„She's taking quite a risk, defying curfew..." Galen murmured to his right.

„Yeah, and it's gonna break her neck," Burke growled. Virdon saw what he meant: two chimpanzees were trailing her, not quite cutting her off yet, obviously intent on staying unnoticed by the young human. Virdon frowned. They seemed to think the girl would lead them somewhere - probably to other humans who also rebelled against the „human control directive"...

A rustle to his left, and Burke had vanished through the bushes. Virdon cursed under his breath - Burke usually didn't stick out his neck out for anyone but the members of their group. With a last glance towards the riders making their rounds on the village square, Virdon began to jog after him. He'd need to have a word with Pete later.

They found Burke standing a little distance away in an overgrown clearing in the forest, turning on his axis and looking as if he'd seen a ghost. Or not seen a ghost - both the girl and her pursuers had vanished without a trace. Burke looked up and spread his arms.

„Poof," he said, „one girl going up in smoke - maybe she's just a damn good ranger. A girl and two apes going up in smoke  _ together? _ That's damn strange."

Virdon had to agree as he scanned their surroundings. The trees stood spaced widely apart, he could see through the forest at least a hundred yards in every direction. It was unlikely that they were lying low somewhere in the undergrowth, not as close as Burke had been on their heels.

Burke had begun to search the ground for tracks, going in ever widening circles, and after a moment, Virdon joined him, intrigued despite himself. Zana and Galen, who had caught up with them in the meantime, stood under a pine tree and watched with interest as if they were on a safari; Virdon half expected Zana to start taking notes.

Somebody had come through here recently, though they had moved with great care - there were no broken twigs, no snapped stalks, just some bent tufts of grass that were gently straightening themselves. And then nothing. The track was gone. Virdon circled back, looking for what he must have overlooked a few steps earlier.

And froze, staring at a leaf that disappeared into the ground. Not cut off - bent, at an unnatural ninety degree angle.

His sudden stop had alerted the others; Burke stopped looking for tracks himself and came over to him. „What did you find?"

Virdon held up a hand to silence him, and pointed to the ground.

„Son of a..." Burke breathed and crouched down. He swiped his hands through the dry leaves, trying to find the contours of the trapdoor that lay hidden underneath. Invisible save for that one crushed milkweed leaf.

„Hat's off to you, Davy Crockett," Burke murmured as he traced the gap, looking for a way to lift the door. Virdon didn't answer as he sat back on his haunches and watched Burke's efforts.

He didn't like the implications of their find. A trap door in a forest... leading to a hiding place underground. People going to these lengths to hide from the apes were either desperate or violent. Or both - these qualities tended to go hand in hand. And Galen had mentioned that the local prefect had some problems with his humans. He rose.

„Leave it," he said to Burke, who looked up at him in surprise. „Let's get out of here, before..."

A strangled cry from the trees cut him short.

Zana stared at him, wide-eyed, a blade pressed against her throat, a human arm clamped around her chest. Then he heard the click of a rifle being cocked behind him. He slowly turned his head.

A chimp was standing in the underbrush, his gun trained at him. Not a soldier...

„Quiet," he said. Virdon nodded and slowly raised his hands. The ape walked around them, gun trained steadily at him, and waved him and Burke to step back from the trapdoor before bending down, eyes still on them, and pulling a hidden handle. A whole section of forest floor lifted up, revealing only darkness below.

At a hissed command from the man who had Zana at knifepoint, Galen hobbled forward and peeked cautiously down into the hole. „The stairs are very steep...," he said dubiously. The chimp, who seemed to be the leader of the posse, jerked his gun an inch towards the opening.

„Move."

Galen obeyed, more creeping than walking downstairs, followed by Zana and her shadow who still had his knife at her throat when he walked her down.

Burke didn't need a prompt; he passed Virdon with a murmured „sorry..." and vanished into the darkness. Virdon followed him. He could feel the barrel of the gun pointed at his neck as the chimp jumped down lightly behind him.

The trapdoor closed with a soft, heavy thump.   
  



	2. Chapter 2

The room was small, made even smaller by the mass of people currently crammed in, but Burke ignored them for the moment and quickly scanned his surroundings. A single oil lamp was dangling from the low ceiling, its flickering light betraying a draft - there had to be a ventilation shaft hidden in the shadows somewhere.

Burke doubted that these people had built the structure themselves; more likely someone had discovered it, perhaps while picking berries or collecting firewood, and repurposed it for their own ends. Could have been a bomb shelter in its former life. A thick layer of rushes under his feet swallowed the sound of his steps, and the walls were covered with something that looked like sheep skins, though it was hard to tell for sure in the dim light.

„Cozy," Burke muttered. And pretty soundproof, too.

The door behind him closed with a soft click, and Virdon was pushed against his back. Good thing that astronauts couldn't be claustrophobic, eh? Burke counted heads: apart from their own group, the rifle-wielding chimp and the fellow who had threatened to shave off Zana's head, he detected the two apes that had followed the redhead...

... and the woman herself, seated at a reedy table that was the only furniture in the room, staring at him with cold eyes.

Damn. He really was a fool, wasn't he? Just because she had reminded him a bit of Sondra... Must've been the hair. Sondra had been a redhead. Had the temper to go with it, too.

„You were right," the chimp behind him murmured. „I found them outside."

„They're not from our village," knife-guy commented in a low voice.

The woman shook her head. „No, I don't know them, either." She rose. „What are you doing here?"

„Trying to save you from the chimps who were trailing you," Burke said. „Who'd have thought you'd be frolicking in the woods together?"

She blinked at that, then her gaze flicked to Galen and Zana who stood huddled together, looking intimidated, and her lip curled in disgust. When she looked at Burke again, her eyes had softened. „It may be difficult to imagine," she said, „but not all humans stay in apes' company by force."

„We're not forced to stay with them," Virdon interjected. „We're friends."

The woman regarded him skeptically. „Are you now. You still haven't answered my question."

„Yes, I have," Burke said. „We saw you breaking curfew, with apes on your tail. We wanted to help."

„And you're always going out of your way to help complete strangers?" She smiled at him sardonically. Burke couldn't blame her for her cynicism - this world had a way of fostering it.

He smiled back, equally insincere. „No, I have that weakness only for redheads."

To his surprise, her laugh sounded genuine this time, and he involuntarily grinned back.

„Oh, a mixed group! Oh Katlin, how wonderful! See, I was right, there are other apes without prejudice..."

The redhead frowned and half turned her head to acknowledge the speaker. Burke craned his neck to peek around her. So there was a second door to this room - probably leading to the bunker proper, while this was just an anteroom where they interrogated their prisoners...

The owner of the new voice stepped around the woman, and Burke snorted.  _ Yet _ another ape. This one was a young female, with unusually sharp features for a chimp, or perhaps it was that eager, slightly fanatical energy she was exuding. „I didn't know apes live in caves now," he scoffed. „Shouldn't y'all meet up two stories higher?"

The chimp girl sized him up with a slight smile. „We care for our human brothers and sisters. We don't want them to risk breaking their necks."

Burke ran his tongue over his teeth to prevent himself from saying something he'd be sorry for in a room full of her friends - some of them armed - but Zana saved him before he could forfeit all their lives.

„I know you!" she exclaimed. „Lora, isn't it? You were in my orientation group at university!"

The other chimp eyed her uncertainly; then recognition lit up her face. „Zana? I remember you - you were studying anthropology!" She turned to the chimp with the rifle, who was still positioned behind him and Virdon, a fact that made Burke's neck itch. „She's also a friend to humans, ah, I mean the other people. She was my tutor back then."

„Fine, so you know her... do you know _ them?"  _ Burke supposed that referred to him and Virdon.

Lora shook her head. „No..."

„They belong to us," Zana said quickly, „and no, not as slaves - they travel with us of their own free will - but Lora, what are you doing here? Do your parents know where you are?" She sounded dismayed and slightly worried.

„I'm working with the Human Liberation Front, for racial equality," Lora said, this time with unabashed pride. „'Simians And Humans Together'. We've been banned by the government because we've been too successful for their taste, Gres here is making a real difference..."

„Lora!" The chimp's... Gres' sharp voice cut her off. „No names."

He hadn't objected when she'd given away the redhead's name, Burke noticed. Kathryn, or Katlynn, or something.

Lora deflated, but recovered quickly. „You could join us," she said to Zana, „I remember you were the only one who liked humans as much as I did."

„We've had problems with spies before," Katlin reminded her. „We need to be careful."

Lora ignored her, her hopeful smile still aimed at Zana.

„I'm sorry," Zana said gently, „but we're only traveling through. You should really go back home, Lora, this is dangerous..."

„I'm not afraid," Lora cut her off. „This is important. It's worth a little risk."

A  _ little risk? _ Burke shook his head. The girl had no idea what she'd gotten herself into, and of course her leader had no intention to educate her about it. „Girl, they'll hang you from the next tree for treason, heresy and, I dunno, bestiality," he scoffed. „Better go home and organize a charity dinner, or write a strongly worded letter to your senator. Anything that won't orphan your parents."

„You don't get to tell me what to do!" Lora snapped.

„No?" Burke grinned. „But I'm telling you this as your well meaning  _ brother _ ."

Someone coughed to hide a laugh. Knife-guy?

Katlin was biting her lip, too, glancing surreptitiously to Gres, who stepped around their group to face them.

„I agree with Katlin," he mustered them coldly, „we can't be careful enough. Maybe you're just traveling through, as you said, maybe not. For now, you'd better stay here, until..." he exchanged a look with Katlin, "... until we've decided what to do with you."

„You're keeping us prisoners?" Galen spoke up for the first time, indignant. Frightened.

„Just for a little while," Lora tried to reassure him. „We're waiting for... someone. When he's here, and safe, you can go."

Burke glanced at Gres.

_ Yeah, right.. _

* * *

Hours later - alright, so maybe not hours, but it felt that way - they were still at an impasse, which just proved yet again that diplomacy was overrated

„I understand that you have to distrust strangers as a matter of survival, but how probable is it that we would betray you to the police?" Virdon tried to reason with Gres; Burke didn't think it'd get him anywhere, but as long as Al kept the attention of these Che wannabes focused on himself, Burke was free to come up with a more immediate solution for their problem.

He doubted that Gres would fire his rifle inside the tiny chamber, which was mostly stuffed with his own people, but the numbers for a melee weren't good, either. Galen was still lame, and Burke had no idea if he even knew how to fight, and he was reasonably sure that Zana had no idea how to fight, even with two good feet.

That left him and Virdon, against five adversaries, and while he had sorted Lora into the same category as Zana, he suspected that Katlin could get nasty; it was in the way she moved and held herself. She was slim - not that there were any fat humans in this world anymore - but she didn't have that slightly hunched pose of the downtrodden. She held her head high and looked everyone, human or ape, straight in the eye, and her movements were quick and efficient. Burke was sure that he'd feel nothing but muscles under that skin. And, well, maybe a tiny bit of fat, in the right places...

The two other apes were complete blanks - they hadn't said a word yet and hardly moved. But any ape was so much stronger than a human that they had an automatic advantage, and although they seemed to have left the trees for good, they weren't as fixated to the vertical axis as humans - in a way, they were all natural capoeiristas.

„We're humans - what reason would we have to side with apes who see us as lower life-forms?" Virdon was still trying to apply logic to what came down to a probability problem for Gres.

Burke understood the rebel leader's dilemma, but he had no intention of playing nice with these people. He was inching towards knife-guy, who had both a knife and the fact that he was human going for him.

Besides, he still owed him a thrashing for frightening poor Zana.

„I don't know...," Gres was saying, „perhaps you tell me?" It was clear that he was playing with Al.

_ Asshole. _

While he doubted that Gres would be too impressed if he took one of his fighters hostage, Burke was reasonably sure that it would help negotiations if Gres himself got in touch with the edge of the blade.

Virdon spread his hands in frustration. „Sure, I'll tell you - we have  _ none _ . And you have no reason to keep us here."

Gres grimaced, an insincere smile. „If only things were that eas..."

Virdon was violently shoved aside. A panting mass of black fur flung Burke into the sheepskins as a gorilla ploughed his way through the crowd, making a beeline for Gres and ignoring a flustered Lora. „Kuma, finally..."

„The whole place is surrounded by soldiers," the gorilla's harsh voice interrupted her. „We need to get out, right now!"

Gres stared at the newcomer. "How did they find... they were following you."

The gorilla shrugged. "Tried to shake them off, but I got only one of them." He smiled. "But got him good."

_ He killed a guard,  _ Burke realized.  _ Now the place is swarming with them up there, and they won't give a damn if we look like gorillas or not... _

"Y'know, it was nice meeting you, but we really gotta be going," he called out to Gres. "This mess is all yours, have fun..."

They all froze at the scraping sounds from the head of the stairs.

_ They're digging out the trapdoor. _

A few moments later, the outer door began to shudder under heavy hits. Someone was breaking through, and was making quick progress.

Katlin jumped to her feet, pushing Lora towards the back door the girl had come through just a few moments ago. One of the apes hopped on the table, trying to get through the same exit over the heads of his panicking friends, but kicked the lamp off its hook instead. Suddenly the room went pitch black.

Then a glow sprang up from the floor, as the dry rushes caught fire.

„Shit!" Burke stomped out the flames, but wasn't sure if the fire wasn't creeping away under the surface. Pungent smoke was clogging his nostrils and choked his throat. Someone shoved hard against him, and he fell to his knees. Somewhere behind him, Zana cried out. Burke stumbled to his feet, coughing and gagging, and ran smack into the table as he tried to get to her. The scraping sound of a closing door led him to the far end of the room.

His fingers touched metal.

He quickly felt around the frame, but the door had no outer handle, and when he banged against it, the sound was swallowed immediately. That door had to be massive, like the door to a bank vault... or a bomb shelter, immune against explosives. The apes wouldn't have a chance to break through that door, and if they finally succeeded, the HLF would be long gone.

Unfortunately, that meant they were trapped, too.

A splintering crash from the other side of the room announced that the patrol had succeeded with that door, at least. Torchlight filtered through the smoke, and Burke stared into the cold eyes of he law.

A quick glance around the room showed Virdon and Galen, and knife-guy, who hadn't made it, either. Burke searched the room again, just to be sure.

Zana was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

„On your knees, hands up! I want to see your hands!"

Virdon helped Galen, who clumsily sank down on one knee - he still couldn't fully stretch his healing ankle - and cast a quick glance to Burke to make sure his hotheaded friend didn't try anything heroic. But Pete was kneeling like everybody else, hands behind his neck, looking sullen. Apart from his friends, only one rebel hadn't made it out of their foxhole: a short, wiry man with greying temples. Virdon remembered that it had been him who had held the knife at Zana's throat.

Zana. Virdon didn't know if he should be glad that she had escaped with the others, or worried about her safety. At least one of the apes, that young girl Lora, had been sympathetic to her, but she had no position of authority with her fellow „revolutionaries." Virdon suspected they tolerated her for political reasons - perhaps her family had powerful connections they hoped to exploit.

One of the soldiers quickly patted them down for weapons, while his comrade searched around the table and the upturned chair for evidence. He bent down and picked up the knife that the slim man had dropped in his mad dash towards the second door, held it up for his commander, and put it in a bag.

Their own guard swung Galen's bag over his shoulder; Galen glanced up quickly when his compromising book changed ownership, but didn't say anything. Virdon hoped it would go unopened into some evidence room - he still had no idea about its content, and Galen was tight-lipped about it, but from Zana's reaction, it was some strictly censored information; stealing that book from Zaius' vault had gotten Galen the death sentence that had forced him to join them.

The third soldier had been fumbling with the other door in the meantime, without success. Now he grabbed Burke by the neck and roughly pushed him towards it. „Open the door."

„I can't," Burke snapped. „It's locked from the inside, or do you think we'd be still here otherwise?" He banged a fist against it. „And it's solid steel, so good luck with breaking through."

A quick inspection by the squad leader confirmed his words. „Well, too bad for you," he gestured for his men to tie their hands, „but your lives still have a purpose. If nothing else, you'll serve to educate your fellow humans why it's a bad idea to defy the prefect." He jerked his chin towards the stairs, and the soldiers yanked them to their feet.

Outside, the forest was swarming with apes, torches moving in the darkness like angry fireflies. Their captor watched Galen's limp for a moment, then ordered one of his men to find him a horse; the rest of them had their tied wrists roped to the saddlehorns of their guards. Depending on the apes' mood, they'd be jogging or running the whole distance; Virdon hoped that their destination wasn't too far away. He doubted that they'd stop if one of them lost their footing.

The riders let their horses walk through the undergrowth; when they met with a second group at the edge of the forest, Virdon spotted a bundle tied onto the back of one of their horses. Behind him, he heard Burke mutter a curse. The gorilla had killed one of their comrades.

Virdon took a deep breath.

Their chances to wiggle out of this trap had just plummeted.

* * *

When they finally reached the main square of the prefecture's seat, Virdon felt as if his lungs were on fire. He had no problems hiking up and down the hills for days on end, but since Galen had injured his ankle, they hadn't been able to run anymore, and it showed. He supported himself against the croup of his warden's horse and tried to catch his breath. His only consolation was that his fellow captives were stumbling along just as he was, sweat-drenched and panting; so it wasn't because of his age.

They had been forced to carry their backpacks themselves, and his back had been rubbed raw, just like the ropes had bitten into his wrists. Now their captors dismounted, loosened their cords, and Virdon gladly shrugged off his load. Contrary to Galen, his backpack didn't contain any brow-raising artifacts.

Their hands were retied behind their backs - with the exception of Galen, who even got his cane back - and they were led up the stairs of what Virdon supposed was the town house. Most of the rooms were dark, the bureaucrats home by now, but the office at the end of the corridor was brightly lit. The prefect had put in overtime for them.

The burly ape behind the desk ignored them completely while he listened to the squad leader's report, only interrupting him once to ask if they had found any sign of his niece; Virdon raised his brows at that - if the prefect had a  _ personal _ reason to detest the HLF, things could get ugly.

When the chimp finally turned his attention to the prisoners, it was Galen he addressed.

„I can understand that humans would try to climb up in the hierarchy, but of all the apes I interviewed, not one was able to give me a coherent explanation why they voluntarily want to climb  _ down."  _ He leaned back and regarded Galen with half-lidded eyes. „But I'm always willing to try again." He turned his palm upward. „So, enlighten me. Why are you wallowing in their filth?"

„I think your choice of words already precludes a constructive discussion," Galen said softly. „But I'm the wrong person to ask this particular question anyway, because I don't belong to their organisation."

The prefect bellowed a short laugh. „Ah, where have I heard that before? It must have been in this very room, from apes who suddenly lost their appetite for fighting for their noble cause." He leaned forward, all amusement wiped from his face. „It'd be better for you to wisen up and cooperate with me. Unless you want to join them on the block." He waved towards the humans.

Galen looked ill. „You mean, there is an option of parole for me, but not for them?"

The prefect lifted a corner of his mouth; it wasn't quite a smile. „Parole presupposes a court decision. The last time we brought animals before a court was when a miller's donkey was accused of bestiality."

Galen's nostrils flared, but his tone was as mild as always. „I'm very sorry, prefect, but it is the truth - I and my humans were held up and taken prisoner by these rebels, because they thought we were spying on them  _ for you. _ Now  _ you _ are accusing us of working with  _ them _ ." He sighed theatralically. „It seems we've been caught in the middle of your private little war, but you must believe me: we were just traveling through. We have no part in this conflict, on either side."

The prefect shook his head. „I see. Well, perhaps spending some time in our jail will make you reconsider that story." He rose, and Virdon felt the heavy hand of a guard on his shoulder. They were dismissed.

„Do you still remember how to pick a lock?" he murmured to Burke as they were shoved down the stairs into the basement. Apparently, the townhouse did double duty as office building and precinct.

„Sure I do," Burke murmured back. „Just get me some lock picks."

„Ah yes," Virdon mused. „That's where it gets difficult..."

„Shut up." The force of the slap against his head made him stumble forward. Virdon shook his head to lose the dizziness and decided that he'd wait until the soldiers had delivered them to their cells before he'd further consult with Burke.

Unfortunately, the prefect had given order that they would wait out their trial - or the lack of it - in separate cells. Unlike the kennels at the institute, their lodgings here had massive walls and thick wooden doors, and while both he and Burke knew how to morse, the captured rebel didn't, and he got the cell between them.

Slowly, Virdon sat down on the bare cot and began to take off his shoes. There was nothing he could do right now, and he was too exhausted to think straight, so the best strategy was to get some sleep. Maybe tomorrow, he could think of something to get them out of here. A bargain, a plea, a ruse... anything.

He had a feeling that they didn't have much time.


	4. Chapter 4

Aken had expected to see his brother-in-law first thing in the morning - after all, the capture of the rebels was the talk of the town - but the hours had crept by and the man was still nowhere to be seen. It was curious, especially since Dolan had been beleaguering him ever since the girl had vanished, but the prefect shrugged the thought away and returned his attention to his workload. Maybe Dolan was worried that his precious daughter was among the prisoners and didn't dare to come see for himself.

Aken wasn't sure what he would've done if Lora had been apprehended the other day - the fact that she was affiliating with this trash was embarrassing enough that he was in the mood to send her to the block like any other HFL member. It would also prove that he didn't play favorites with anyone.

Of course, Lilia might just kill him in revenge.

Half of the morning had already passed when he finally heard the heavy steps of a Chimp not used to running anymore trampling down the corridor to his office. He raised a brow at that;  _ now _ the man was in a hurry?

The door crashed open with a bang. Aken clenched his teeth and kept his gaze studiously down on his file. He wouldn't reward Dolan's brazenness with instant attention, or even...

A fat hand smashed a grubby sheet of paper on top of the report he was reading. Dolan leaned on the desk, panting for air. „They're going to kill her, Aken, oh sweet mothers, they'll kill her!"

The prefect slowly lifted his head to give him a piercing look; then he took up the sheet at one corner, held it to his pipe and dropped it into a stone ashtray. Dolan watched it burn up with wide eyes.

„But... you haven't even read it!"

Aken glanced at him and took a puff of his pipe. „No."

„But then you won't know what their demands are!"

Aken growled and Dolan hastily took his paws off his desk. „I don't need to know their demands. I don't bargain with terrorists."

_ „They have Lora!" _

„She ran into their arms with her eyes wide open! Now she's finding out what living the wild life means!" Aken rose from his desk. „Do you really expect me to dally with this filth, while they are inciting the humans, destroying public property, endangering the peace and  _ killing my soldiers?" _

„She is your niece! She is Lilia's daughter! Doesn't family mean  _ anything _ to you?" Dolan had tears in his eyes.

Aken snarled with disgust. „I'm not sitting in this office as Lora's uncle, but as the prefect! My duty is to preserve the peace, keep the humans in their place and perhaps -  _ perhaps _ , if I find the time, see that this prefecture is productive enough to collect the taxes that the government expects to receive." He banged his fist on the desk. „And we wouldn't be having this conversation if you hadn't filled her head with these insane ideas about equality and human plight!" He pointed at him. „This is the fruit of your labor, Dolan. I hope you're happy now!"

Dolan stepped back and clenched his fists. „You can't... you can't seriously contemplate throwing Lora to these... these beasts!"

Aken laughed. „What, now they're animals again? Now that was quick!"

„I'm talking about all of them!" Dolan yelled. „They're all animals, ape or human, if they'd lay hand on an innocent girl for whatever reason! Please, Aken," his tone changed to pleading, „they just want their comrades returned. It's not as if they want the keys to the treasury..."

„They want their comrades returned," Aken repeated flatly. „After killing one of my officers. Do you have any idea what an outrage this will provoke among the men?"

„Honestly, Aken?" Dolan spread his arms. „I don't give a damn. I don't give a damn about your officers, your taxes, your prefecture, or your pride. We're talking about the life of my daughter. Do you really think anything else could be more important to me than that?"

The men stared at each other for a long moment.

Finally, Aken sat down again with a grunt. He waved at Dolan to take a seat, and with a wary look, his relative lowered himself onto the edge of a chair. For a long while, Aken stared out of the window. Nobody spoke.

„If I agree to this dirty deal," Aken finally said, „you'll send her away. I don't want to have her here after this - the danger that she'll either run away again or be used for more...  _ bargains _ ... is too great. I don't care if you send her back to university or marry her off to some pencil pusher in the southern districts; but she'll have to go for good. Is that clear?"

Dolan swallowed thickly. „Yes, Ak-... yes, Prefect."

„Very well." Aken pulled at his pipe, found that it had gone out, and relit it again. After some more puffs, he continued. „What exactly do they want?"

„All prisoners, rifles and ammunition..." Dolan's voice trailed away as Aken held up a hand.

„Stop right here. They'll get their fellow terrorists back, and nothing else. And that's a damn good deal for them." He paused. „Did they say 'all prisoners'? All four of them?"

Dolan nodded, and Aken grinned. „'Oh no, we were just traveling through, we have nothing to do with your terrorists!' Ha. Filthy liars, the lot of them. Fine... one of them is an ape. We'll send him to relay our offer and impress on him how important it is that he convince his friends to agree to our conditions." He rose.

Dolan stayed where he was. „I want to talk to that ape first."

Aken frowned down on him. „Why?"

Dolan clenched his fists on his knees. „Because we are bargaining  _ my daughter _ and I want to see the man who holds her life in his hands."

Aken heaved a heavy sigh. „All right, fine, talk to him. Tell Mika I allowed it and to bring him up to my office after you're finished. And Dolan..." He waited until the Chimp had turned back again.

„Don't make me wait for him for too long."

* * *

Galen looked up when he heard the key scrape inside the lock of his door. He had been waiting for that sound the whole morning, and after a period of intense anxiety, his energy had deflated to the point of resignation. He just wasn't equipped for a life of adventure, he'd decided; he wasn't quick to fight, like Peet, and though he had usually been able to talk his way out of every trouble he had managed to stumble into as a boy, he had found his negotiating talents lacking the night before.

To his surprise, the man standing behind the guard wasn't the prefect - of course, Galen scolded himself, why would the prefect come down to his cell? He eyed the heavy-set Chimpanzee who now hovered at his doorstep, apparently at a loss of words himself.

„Good morning, sir," Galen finally said, to break the nervous silence. „I'm Yuma. I'd say pleased to meet you, but the circumstances," he waved at the walls, „are less than pleasant." He smiled at the panting ape, hoping to get a reaction.

„I want to talk to you about my daughter," the Chimp said abruptly. Galen's nose twitched. So that must be Lora's father. No wonder he looked so unnerved.

„The last time I saw her, she was fine," he said gently. „She was delighted to meet my fiancée. They know each other from university, you see? Running into each other here was very... unexpected."

The man frowned. „Running into... are you saying you don't belong to the HLF?"

Galen shook his head and sighed. „No, I don't, and neither do my humans. That's what I told the prefect last night, too. Unfortunately he didn't believe me."

To his surprise, the Chimp broke down on his cot and buried his face in his hands. „Then it's over! It's over!" he moaned.

Galen blinked. „Why don't you tell me what this is all about?"

The man straightened and took a shuddering breath. „This morning, I found a message from the HLF pinned to my door - they demand the release of the prisoners... all of them, including you and your humans... in exchange for her. I don't know what they'll do to her if their demands aren't met, and I don't want to even think about it!" He looked up at Galen with a frown. „If you aren't members of the HLF, why do they want your release, too?"

Galen sighed and sat down beside him. „I think that demand came from my fiancée. When the police stormed the HLF's hiding place, she was taken by these people when they escaped." He gave Lora's father a wry smile. „In a way, I'm in the same situation as you, with a loved one being in rebels' hands. You must be worried sick for her!"

The Chimp swallowed and nodded. „She's such a good girl, smart and brave... but so easily excited. She wanted to help the humans... that's nothing contemptible or ridiculous..."

„No, definitely not," Galen said firmly. „It's a noble thing, to help those who can't help themselves. It's a shame that her goodwill was so abused."

The man gave him a trembling smile. „That's what I always told her. I didn't imagine it would result in... this." He bowed his head slightly. „I'm Dolan."

Dolan... the name stirred a memory in Galen. During their mad escape from the city, they had stumbled upon Zibaya, the leader of the student movement for equal opportunities for Gorillas. The Orangutan had given him a list with sympathizers who might help them on their run from the authorities. Galen hadn't eaten the list, as Zibaya had demanded, but he  _ had _ burned it after learning the names on it. He wondered briefly why Dolan's had appeared on that list, seeing as Dolan's commitment seemed to be focused on humans instead of Gorillas, but perhaps Zibaya had realized that beggars couldn't be choosers when it came to resisting the system.

„Pleased to meet you, Dolan - seriously," Galen returned the nod. „It's good to see that there are more apes that aren't afraid to think for themselves. To think outside... the approved parameters."

Dolan stared at him. „You're a... a Free Thinker?" He lowered his voice to a whisper. „Because if you are, don't let Aken... ah, the prefect. Don't let him know that you are. He has to put up with me, because I married his sister, but he won't be that lenient with you."

A sudden hope lanced through Galen. If this man was also a Free Thinker, perhaps he could ask him to... but not yet. It was too early for that. So he just nodded his understanding.

„Why did you want to see me when you still thought I was an HLF member, Dolan?" He had to put this conversation back on its rails before Dolan's meanderings used up his allotted time.

The other Chimp took a deep breath, remembering.

„The prefect has agreed to send you as an envoy to the rebels... to take our offer to them. They'll get you and the humans, in exchange for Lora. I... I just wanted to see who he'd send... in whose hands Lora's fate would lie." He smiled at Galen. „Now I have a much better feeling about it."

Galen shook his head. „This may surprise you, Dolan, but I'm not the best choice for this job. For one thing," he lifted his foot, „I'm still injured, and if the negotiations go sour, I wouldn't be able to fight my way out of their lair to save Lora."  _ And Zana, _ he added silently. Then he caught the look of alarm in Dolan's eyes, and put a hand on his arm.

„I'm not saying that it will end in violence, but it's better to be prepared, don't you agree? And their leader is a Chimpanzee himself, so he'll see me as the more valuable bargain..." He smiled wryly when he detected the glint in Dolan's eyes. So Lora's father had come to the same conclusions about Gres as he. Interesting...

„They may want me more badly than one of the humans. Better not to give me to them prematurely. Send one of my humans instead - Alan can negotiate as well as any ape, but he can also fight. If something goes wrong, he'll be able to get Lora safely home."

Dolan nodded. „I'll advise the prefect. You make a good argument for sending a human." He began to rise.

„You need to tell me where their headquarters are, Dolan," Galen murmured.

Dolan sharply sucked in his breath and sunk back onto the cot. „Why... why would you think..." he stammered.

Galen leaned in conspiratorially. „Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. But I met Lora, if only briefly, and I can imagine that she confided in her father. She's very... communicative."

Dolan wiped the sweat from his brow. „She may have mentioned it..."

Galen nodded. „You or I need to tell Alan, because we really have no idea where they are. And... I'd be ever so grateful if you could do something else for me." Maybe it was cruel to exploit his knowledge about the man's complicity. But if you had the executioner's sword hanging above your neck, you began to lose misgivings about pointing it at others' necks in turn.

„There's a book that's now probably lying in the prefect's evidence room. I need you to, ah, safeguard it for me. Take it home, if you want to." He smiled wryly. „You can even read it, if you dare."

Dolan stared at him, intrigued despite himself. „What kind of book is that?"

„The history of the Great War." Galen leaned forward. „The  _ unofficial _ version."


	5. Chapter 5

Burke slowed to a walk and took a deep draw from his water bottle. It was no use running up the hills - he'd just tire out, or get a cramp in his calves, or throw up... sometimes going slow was the faster way, but boy, was he feeling the pressure to hurry up!

The prefect had even offered him a horse, but being a city kid, Burke wouldn't have known how to steer it in the right direction, provided he'd managed to stay up for more than five seconds. Since humans had no business riding horses in this world anyway, he suspected the prefect was just amusing himself at his expense. The bastard had been in a sardonically good mood, which was amazing, considering the HLF was holding one of his relatives hostage. Though his mood might have had more to do with the conditions he had set on Burke.

„Tell me, boy," the chimp had grinned, „do you love your master as befits a human?"

Burke had stopped himself from making a snide remark in the last moment, realizing it was probably a trick question. So he just shrugged. „I like him well enough," he said noncommittally.

The prefect laughed. „Do you. But I guess you like your friend a little better, hm?" His eyes glinted when Burke didn't answer. He leaned slightly forward.

„Now listen to me well, human - I want you to go to your friends in the blasted zone... yes, we know they're hiding out there... and tell them that they'll get you and your comrades back in exchange for Lora. If they don't agree that this is a  _ terrific _ deal they're getting, I'll start executing the prisoners one by one, starting with your friend."

Although Burke was sure that he'd kept a pokerface, the prefect's satisfaction at what he saw was palpable. „You have two days to get her back. I'll even let you ride a horse to be there in time."

„I've never sat on a horse!" Burke had protested. „And it's not enough time if I have to run on foot! Don't you want to get your niece back?"

„Of course I do," the prefect said indifferently, „who wouldn't want to welcome back a relative who's also a member of a terrorist organisation? It makes for wonderful dinner conversations. But if you don't manage to return in time, I'll hold an important public demonstration for my humans, and that'll also be damn gratifying."

Burke shook his head, remembering the other „public demonstrations" he had come across on his way to the „Forbidden Zone." People being dragged out of their huts, some of them carted away in caged carriages - with a pang he remembered their own journey to the ape capital... And these people were probably family members of the rebels, or suspected of supporting them in some way. Or perhaps Aken had just ordered random arrests, to spread terror. From the looks on people's faces, the bastard was succeeding big time.

Controls had also increased, not only in frequency, but also in intensity. People had to show their district's brand all the time now, and the apes made generous use of that pretense to assault them. Burke had run into patrols several times, and despite having papers from the prefect's office itself, had been handled roughly and on one occasion, forced to strip naked, because the officer had insisted on looking for a brand. Burke felt heat climbing up from his throat as he remembered it. That was the thing that unnerved him the most, the constant manhandling by the apes, the unconscious assumption that they could touch him wherever and whenever they wanted. It was as if they had no concept of personal space, at least not where humans were concerned.

He shook his head to clear his mind - he couldn't risk taking a wrong turn because he got lost in his dark thoughts. He should be close to the Forbidden Zone now - and he'd love to know why they were called that - Galen had said there would be signs on the side of the road, and had drawn a quick sketch of the ape letters, since Burke couldn't read their script. His hand had trembled a bit; he was still shaken by the prefect's decision not to send Alan, but him, mostly because Galen couldn't figure out the prefect's motive - to Aken, one human should have been as good as the next.

Burke smiled grimly. Mellow, civilized Galen had no clue how bastards like Aken ticked. If you told them you preferred one thing, they'd force the other on you just to see you squirm. Galen had chosen Alan because he was the better negotiator, so naturally, Aken forced him to make do with the worse alternative, just to throw a wrench into the works. Not for the first time, Burke wondered how badly the prefect wanted them to fail, even though it meant his niece could die, too. Either he didn't think Gres was capable of murdering the girl, or he didn't care if he did.

Not for the first time, Burke was grateful that he didn't have a family anymore.

He fell into a slow jog again, one that he could keep up for hours, eating the miles away. He had run some ultramarathons in his former life (it already began to feel unreal to him, all those memories... they seemed to have happened to another man), and although he hadn't had a chance to keep up his training in all those past months, his body still remembered how to pace itself.

He only faltered for a moment when the sign loomed up before him on the hill top.

A black trefoil on yellow ground.

* * *

Virdon knew he was taking a gamble - well, that was the understatement of the year! - but after the guards had dragged Pete out of his cell, he didn't dare to hold still any longer. After some indeterminately long, heart-stopping moments, Galen had enlightened him to his friend's new role as chief negotiator, but Virdon still wasn't over the shock of believing that the apes had taken Burke away to execute him. His heart still started to race at the thought. To lose the only man who shared his memory of home, his culture and understanding... to face this hostile, bizarre world alone...

He took a deep breath. No, he couldn't sit this one out.

The doors had small openings near the floor, to feed the prisoners. He would be heard by the other prisoners, and probably also by Mika the warden, but it was his only means of communication; his neighbour most probably couldn't even read. Virdon lay down on his belly and put his face to the hatch. „Hello! Neighbour! Are you awake?"

After a long moment, a hoarse whisper reached his ear. „Now I am! What's bugging you?"

„You really have to ask?"

„Well, not much I can do about that, so why don't you let me sleep?"

„Do you want to sleep until they take you out for your execution?"

„Well, what do you think  _ you're _ gonna do? Plan our escape, with all those apes listening in to our conversation?"

The man had a point, Virdon admitted to himself; still, he couldn't just lay down and do nothing! Maybe they could establish a way to talk about their plan that the apes couldn't readily decipher. That, of course, presumed that his fellow human over there was smart enough to communicate in code, too... „What's your name, anyway?"

„Boone. Yours?"

„Alan. Look, Boone, I know you're enjoying the service of this lovely establishment, and so am I, but..."

„Gres will get us out of here, man, don't worry."

Virdon closed his eyes and willed himself to stay calm. So much for talking in code. „Well... I haven't known him as long as you, but it seems to be quite difficult to negotiate with this prefect here..."

„Gres knows how to handle the old stone face, and he has planned every step in advance." The man's voice was steady and relaxed; he fully believed in his leader.

Virdon wished he could share the man's utter faith. What he had seen of Gres hadn't instilled that desperate loyalty in him, but maybe he just hadn't been desperate enough before. He tried again. „Your loyalty to him is commendable, but it's always good to have a fallback plan. Leaders appreciate proactive problem-solving in their followers..." His thoughts involuntarily returned to Burke. Well, he had never needed to encourage  _ that _ particular subordinate to show initiative...

„Trust me, Alan, we don't need no fallback plan," Boone's hoarse, confident whisper took him out of his musings. „Gres knows what he's doing, and he's told us the prefect would try to play us off against each other - even said some of us might get taken hostage. But he's got it all planned out. He's dragging ol' Aken around by the nose for years now." Boone chuckled. „Gres told us he'll take care of us, an' that's what he does. He'll take us to victory, no matter what the cost."

„No matter what it'll cost him, or you?" Virdon couldn't help but ask.

But this time there came no reply. Boone had gone back to sleep, secure in the faith in his leader.

After some more futile attempts to lure him back to his hatch, Virdon gave up and returned to his cot, too - the cold of the stone tiles had seeped into his body in the meantime, and his fellow prisoner had proven to be more than useless, so there was no point. If he wanted to get out of here (and Galen - how in the world was he to quickly get a still lame ape away from this murderous prefect?), he'd have to find a solution by himself.

Virdon stared up into the darkness above his bunk, drawing a blank.


	6. Chapter 6

According to Galen's instructions, the rebels' headquarters were about thirty miles inside the fallout zone, so there was no thought of dipping in and out quickly before his balls were fried off. Burke had no idea when that nuclear catastrophe that the sign spoke of had happened, or what material had been used, and he figured it was pointless to worry about it. So far, people seemed to live comfortably in the zone's immediate vicinity, and he hadn't seen any bald humans bleeding out of their orifices, or three-headed cows, so either the radiation had already fallen below hazardous levels, or it had never been deadly to begin with, at least in the border areas.

As he jogged deeper into the hills, he wondered how much history he had been missing out on. He could be five hundred years in his planet's future, or five thousand - or fifty thousand. There was no way to tell. Perhaps Galen would know more; the ape seemed to be their resident scholar, always sticking his twitchy nose into that stolen book that he guarded so closely. He'd ask him about it when they were out of this mess.

Which meant he'd better make sure they got out of this mess.

Something buzzed above his head and ricocheted off a tree with a howl. Burke hit the dirt and cursed.

„I'm unarmed!" he yelled into the wilderness. „Don't shoot at me, you fucking asshole!"

Yeah, he was the master negotiator. But damn, he'd practically felt the air moving past his face!

When no further shots were fired, he dared to cautiously lift his head. His gaze fell on two naked feet and wandered up until it reached the freckled face of a boy who couldn't be a day older than ten. The muzzle of his gun pointed right between Burke's eyes.

„I'm unarmed," he repeated for good measure. The boy neither moved nor answered, and Burke came slowly, slowly up to his knees. He raised his hands and worked his face into a smile.

„The prefect got Gres' message. That's the name of your boss, right? Gres. I was sent to bring him the prefect's answer, so, uh, how about you take me to your leader? I always wanted to say that: take me to your leader!" He grinned, but the boy just stared at him with a stony face. Then finally, he took a step back and jerked his head towards the treeline.

The group's HQ was based in an old mine, and Burke was impressed at how well they had managed to camouflage the entrance. Two more guards silently appeared out of the underbrush and took over, and when Burke turned his head while one of them was patting him down, the boy had already vanished like a ghost. Burke fleetingly contemplated what it must be like to ride patrol out here as a chimp. A lot like Vietnam, probably. The prefect's crackdown began to look more like desperation than despotism. He couldn't suppress a slight smile at that.

On the other hand, the rebels' leader was a chimp. Burke chewed on that thought as he followed his guard deeper into the mine. Katlin hadn't looked cowed by Gres, but she had deferred to him automatically, something that rubbed Burke the wrong way. Perhaps obeying an ape was so deeply ingrained in these humans that they did it even while they were fighting for self-determination.

Or perhaps they just worked with what they had, like he and Virdon did. Burke had noticed how he avoided direct eye contact with apes other than Galen or Zana now, like a native human. This world had a way of sneaking up on you and molding you to its demands... They needed to get away from ape civilisation if they wanted to preserve something like dignity. Virdon still thought they could go home again, but Burke would already be content with a little house on the prairie, where no ape would ever find them.

Gres looked up from his desk and waved the guard away as soon as they had entered, then gestured towards a chair. He was alone; Burke realized that he had half expected Katlin to be there, then shook off the thought with slight irritation. She was Gres' lieutenant, she had probably other things to do than playing interior decoration.

And he had more pressing things on his mind now, anyway. Burke sat down without breaking eye contact with the chimp; Gres had something about him that made his skin crawl.

„I must say, I hadn't expected for them to send a human," Gres greeted him with a lopsided smile. „These apes usually don't think humans are capable of handling complex tasks."

Yeah, right. Burke silently agreed with Galen that Gres had rather hoped to get the most valuable member of the group - the ape - for free, and didn't give a fuck about the humans left behind. With Zana at his mercy, he'd be able to pressure Galen into service for his organization, and with Galen's insider knowledge as a former assistant to the Council Eldest - well, the things Gres could do with that, right? The possibilities were endless, and he wouldn't even have to pretend to care about humans any longer.

Aloud, he just said, „I was tasked to relay a message from the prefect to you, Gres - I think I can manage that, barely."

Gres laughed at his sarcasm, an ape comfortable in his natural position above the human. „You're right, that's not too difficult. So what did Aken say?"

„You'll get all the captives in exchange for Lora." Burke leaned back. Gres had sent a whole laundry list of demands, but there was no way he'd have expected the prefect to meet any of them. That he'd gotten an answer at all had clearly been a surprise for him.

Gres raised his brows. „That's it?"

„That's it," Burke confirmed. „I'd accept the offer, if I was you. The man didn't give the impression that he was that interested in negotiating with you in the first place."

Gres shook his head. „And I'm not interested in selling out. We need those weapons, and the other resources on the list. I have people to feed, people who can't go back to their villages for fear of being arrested. And we can't start ploughing the fields here - we need to stay hidden, even inside the zone."

He sounded genuinely concerned about the humans' starving to death. Burke was impressed with his acting skills. Well, he could in turn pretend that he believed in Gres' benevolence.

„Look," he leaned forward to give his words more impact, „this prefect is a murderous bastard who'd even sacrifice his own niece to make a point. He told me that if she isn't back home in two days, he'll execute the prisoners, starting with your man, and I believe him. You won't get your list, no matter if you agree to his offer or not, but you'll lose your man, and, and four potential recruits." He kept his face blank at Gres' surprise; he could throw a bait, too, if he had to.

Gres wasn't that gullible. „You'd join us, after all that's happened?"

Burke shrugged. „What happened was that that prefect threw us into jail and is now holding a sword over my friends' necks - while you didn't do more than keep us in place until your man turned up, which was reasonable under the circumstances. Besides, I'd like to see this world turned into a place where no random ape can force me to strip for his amusement at the drop of a hat."

Gres leaned back and eyed him with a calculating look. Burke hoped that the prospect of getting more cannon fodder was more enticing than armwrestling Aken. „Aren't you at all interested in getting Galen?" he asked innocently. „He was Zaius' assistant before he decided to take a vacation. I'm sure he has all kinds of interesting tidbits to share about the city's celebs."

The chimp's lips twitched in wry amusement, and for a moment, Burke worried that he had been too blatant, but the rebel leader nodded in agreement. „Yes, I've been interested in Galen after what his lovely fiancée had told me about him. He seems to have a sharp mind and some... unusual ideas about the future of ape society. He'd definitely be an asset." He rose; Burke didn't move.

„Where is she?"

Gres pretended not to get his meaning immediately. „Who, Katlin?"

Burke blinked. Had he been staring at her that blatantly, back in that bomb shelter? "Zana."

"Oh, Zana? With Lora, I guess." Gres smiled. „I'm not supervising them around the clock - neither of them is a prisoner here, you know?"

Burke smiled back. „I want to see her."

Gres shrugged. „Of course. Later. I want to show you something first." He gave Burke a once over as if he was assessing a new horse. „I think I can also put you to good use, from what I know about you."

He waved at him, and Burke saw no other option than to follow him out of the room into a dark corridor.

He wondered what Zana had told Gres about him.

* * *

The farther they wandered into the bowels of the hill, the more Burke began to wonder if this really had been a mine, or something else entirely. Sure, the corridors were lit by torches that had been stuck into the walls, but the walls themselves weren't rock, but some sort of concrete. He touched it with his fingertips; it was smooth and felt slightly damp. „Do you know what this was before you repurposed it?"

Gres shrugged. „No. It's something from before the Blast. We don't care what they did here before, only what good it does us, now."

„Serving as military headquarters," Burke commented grimly.

The chimp gave him a slight smile. „Nobody ever got freedom by asking politely."

That much, Burke had to admit grudgingly, was true.

„So what was it you wanted to show me?"

„This." Gres pushed open a door and lit the torches along the wall. Burke scanned the room and let out a low whistle.

The room was filled with junk - pieces of equipment whose purpose Burke couldn't even begin to guess, corroded and disassembled machinery, heaps of wiring and electronic parts. Everything was covered with dust, cobwebs, and dirt. Burke bent down and picked up something that looked like Virdon's data disc. He swallowed; could it be that his commander's pipe dream wasn't as insane as it had seemed?

„In particular, I wanted to show you this." Gres handed him a metal casing and gestured at him to open it. Burke pocketed the crystal disc and pried it open. Inside, a gun was embedded into some sort of rubber foam. It looked futuristic, nothing like any gun he'd ever seen - something from his future... and this world's past. Burke wondered how far apart both points were from his own time.

„It's some sort of weapon." Gres' tone made it a half-question. „I had everything that looked potentially useful brought down here." He jerked his chin at the gun. „How does it work?"

Burke didn't meet his gaze. „How would I know? It looks like a gun alright... Have you tried firing it?"

„Of course." The chimp gestured. „But it didn't do anything, and we couldn't determine where to load the bullets."

Burke took the thing out of its case and turned it over. As far as he could see, it had no mechanism to receive a magazine, and he suspected that this type of gun didn't fire bullets at all - perhaps it was some kind of laser gun, or some other radiation-type weapon. It was impossible to tell without taking it apart. He looked up at Gres and shrugged. „Why do you think I could help you with that thing?"

Gres' gaze was piercing all of a sudden. „Zana told me you were a human of unusual talents." He grinned. „I must admit I mistook her meaning at first."

Burke stared at him for a moment before he decided to ignore that last remark. He let his gaze drop to the weapon in his hand. „I can't tell before I haven't had a look at its innards, and even then I don't give any guarantees. I've never seen something like this before."

„That's all right; I'm sure you'll do whatever you can." Gres stepped closer to him. „I'm also sure you'll be an asset to our cause, just like Galen... just in a different capacity."

Burke smiled wryly, his eyes still on the weapon. „Because I might be able to make this thing functional again?"

„Because you're a leader." Gres was in his personal space now, but Burke had the wall against his back and couldn't pull away. „I could see you chafe against simian authority from the first moment I met you," Gres continued. „You have a fire in you that only few humans have... like Katlin. Why do you think I made her my lieutenant? I know talent when I see it. The way you carry yourself - you could inspire many of your fellow humans."

„Inspire them to what? To war?"

„To freedom! Liberation from simian rule - a state of our own, where apes and humans live and work as equals. Isn't that a vision worth fighting for?"

Burke chewed on the inside of his lip. „Yeah, sounds good. And you'll be our Dear Leader?"

Gres laughed. „I won't lie to you - yes, I'm a leader." He waved his arm, indicating the whole compound. „I created this. I built up the HLF from the ground, and made it strong. And we're getting stronger - every time the government clamps down on the humans with a new law, we get new recruits." He leaned in to Burke and whispered with faked confidentiality, „You could almost say Urko and I are creating the HLF together."

Burke swallowed involuntarily at the mention of the general's name. „If that's true, then this  _ will _ end in a bloody war. Urko is itching for a pretense to bash our heads in."

Gres turned up his palms. „That's how everything new is born, in blood and pain." He cocked his head and regarded Burke with narrow eyes. „What do you think your descendants' lives will look like if you don't take up the fight, human?" He nodded with a slight smile when Burke didn't answer. „Join us, Peet; we're making a better future."

Burke avoided his eyes. „I need to think about it."

Gres stepped back and Burke suppressed the urge to take a deep breath. „Of course. Think while you work on that weapon. When it's ready, I hope you are, too." He turned to go.

„You said I could talk to Zana," Burke reminded him.

„Sure. I'll send her down to you." Gres hesitated at the door. „Do make up your mind quickly, Peet - we sent another message to the prefect." He smiled when Burke's head jerked up. „He'll give in or start cracking down. Either way, we'll move closer to a decision."

He left before Burke could ask him what he meant by that, but he had a pretty good idea what the chimp was trying to do. Suddenly, the prefect's deadline looked incredibly generous.

They probably wouldn't have two days to get out of here.

Burke stared at the gun in his hands and wondered if he shouldn't wreck it more instead of repairing it. On the other hand, it would give him a considerable advantage if he  _ had  _ to break out Zana... and that other chimp. Lora. Why she had joined the organization of Mao the Chimp was anyone's guess. With Katlin, Gres had probably used the same sales pitch as he had tried on him.

"I thought you were smarter than that, Katie," he murmured, and carefully put the case on a workbench.

Time to find that redhead, and have a little chat.


	7. Chapter 7

„If you think I'm handling things wrong, feel free to put in your application for my post. Oh, but you'd have to rise through the ranks first to be eligible." Aken let his gaze fall meaningfully on Dolan's bulky midsection. „I think I'll be sitting in this chair for some time, in that case."

„You don't need to step aside, Aken, you just need to listen to something besides your own pride for a change," Dolan said, aggravated. He wasn't as disheveled today, Aken noted; he had probably convinced himself that the human rebel would be able to bring his daughter home. Well, he wouldn't try to dissuade him of that notion - it kept the man from his coattails, mostly.

But not right now. Despite suffering the dire consequences of his humanitarianism, Dolan was again campaigning for the creatures; this time, he was objecting to the search and arrest orders Aken had given out. Although the prefect privately agreed that they weren't very effective in routing out more rebels or their supporters, it gave his men something to do and took off some of the edge after that Gorilla had murdered one of their comrades.

„These measures are just escalating the situation further," Dolan argued. „The harder you bear down on the humans, the more they'll chafe against their yoke! You're the HLF's best recruiter right now!"

„And what message would I be sending to them if I give in?" Aken demanded to know. „That rebelliousness is paying off, that humans can buckle under their yoke and succeed in throwing it off! Do you know how dangerous life would become for our citizens? People whose safety I have sworn to protect!" He gestured at the district's flag hanging on the wall.

„'To Serve Apekind, Protect Its Law, And Make It Prosper'. Right now, I'm upholding the law, and the law protects the safety of the apes. I'm beholden to  _ them _ , not to the beasts that serve them."

„You can't put humans in the same category as goats and pigs," Dolan insisted, but Aken slammed his hand on the desk.

„Not that old discussion again! I'm not in the mood for your philosophical debates about humans!"

Dolan didn't give in. „They're too  _ smart _ to be treated like cattle! Or did you ever have to stifle a revolt of cows? The pressure is rising - the humans are not just filled with fear, but also with  _ hate!  _ At some point, this situation will explode in our faces, and you don't have enough soldiers to protect our safety then!"

„I'll get all the men I need from General Urko, I just have to send the word."

Dolan jumped out of his seat. „Urko! Hasn't the man done enough damage here already? The district has still not recovered from the aftershocks!" He pointed at Aken. „The HLF began their operations not long after he had soaked the earth with human blood. Wasn't their leader an officer in his army? Don't you think that if even a  _ soldier _ is so disgusted by Urko's treatment of humans that he turns around and founds a rebel organisation, there's something fundamentally flawed with Urko's and your approach?"

The door opened before Aken could answer; a soldier stepped in, a scroll in hand.

„Sorry to interrupt, sir, but this just arrived for you from the rebels." He put the scroll on Aken's desk, saluted, and left. Aken reached for it with a meaningful glance towards Dolan, opened it, scanned it, and wordlessly handed it to his brother-in-law.

Dolan licked his lips and began to read. „So they're repeating their demands for the return of their comrades, and for food and weapons..." He read on while Aken waited with steepled fingers.

Dolan inhaled with a sharp hiss. „They've set their own deadline! If their demands aren't met in the next two days..." he let the scroll sink and stared at Aken, „they'll kill Lora..."

„That's why we can't give in, Dolan," Aken said slowly, emphasizing every word. „You give them an inch, they'll take a mile. You give in to their demands once, and you'll have abductions up and down the prefecture." He rose and stepped to the window to look outside.

„We tried it your way. Civilly, amicably. I think it's time we send a stronger message."

* * *

„So how did you end up with the HLF?"

They were standing in the community kitchen, Lora washing the dishes, Zana drying them. Never mind that she had a university degree, Zana thought cynically, it seemed whenever they stayed anywhere for longer than a day, she was relegated to the kitchen. Lora didn't seem to mind; to her, every task was a service to the cause.

„I came home for semester break and met Gres at Summer's End dance." Lora smiled wistfully. „We danced, we talked, we discovered that we had the same views about... well everything, and a short while later, when he had decided that I was trustworthy, he introduced me to his movement."

„You never returned to university?" Zana was shocked. „What did your parents say?"

Lora shrugged. „They didn't understand it, of course. They like to talk about the poor humans, and the inherent injustice of the system, but they don't walk the talk." She let her hands sink into the soapy water and turned her head to stare across the mess, where humans and apes were still lingering at the tables. „They aren't truly committed to the cause. Not the way Gres is."

„I'm sure they're doing what they can," Zana said soothingly.

Lora just shrugged. „It's not my way, either. I'll do anything to change things for the better... overturn the old order. Like Gres. He's..." she sighed, and Zana shook her head.

„He's certainly charismatic," she said dryly. „If he can inspire you to drop out of university."

Lora stared into the sink, chewing on her lip. „You have your degree?"

„Yes, and I was working with humans, just like I always wanted," Zana said tersely. She wasn't going to tell Lora how her career had taken an unexpected dive into the abyss with her last assignment.

But the girl was sharp. „And now you aren't anymore?"

Zana raised her brows, but didn't meet Lora's questioning look. „Well, you saw me - I'm still working with them... just not under the institute's conditions. You... you could say I'm an independent scholar now."

„The scientific establishment is stifling progress, instead of fostering it," Lora agreed. „You did the right thing. And those humans looked fine - they didn't seem frightened at all. I hate that haunted look in their eyes," she murmured, and Zana's stance towards her softened. Lora had her heart in the right place; now if Zana could only set her head straight, too...

„So Gres swept you off your feet, hm?" she tried to steer the conversation back to the main culprit of Lora's predicament.

Lora grinned bashfully. „Did you know he was an officer in Urko's army?"

„Ah...," Zana said meaningfully, „men in uniform...," and Lora giggled.

Then she sobered. „He was there when they clamped down on the humans during the rebellion. He doesn't talk about what he saw... or was forced to do... but it must've been horrible." She took a deep breath. „So he left the army and founded the Human Liberation Front. I think he's trying to make up for all the terrible things he did to them, before." She looked up to Zana with wide, dark eyes.

Zana suppressed a sigh. Ah yes, such a romantic story of sin and atonement would capture the heart of any girl with a shred of feeling, wouldn't it? Perhaps she was already too old, too cynical, but from what she had seen so far, Gres didn't treat the humans under his command any differently than the average ape back in the capital.

On the other had, he did have human lieutenants. Perhaps she was being unfair.

„Lora," she said cautiously, „the prefect has my friends... my fiancé... and one of your comrades. I'm worried sick about them. I'm sure you're working for a good cause, but this situation has dangerously escalated. Won't you  _ please _ come home? I'm sure your parents must be frantic right now."

„I know!" Lora exclaimed. „But this is our chance to force Uncle Aken to back down! He'd never let something happen to me! Don't you understand? It had to be me!" She threw the dishrag into the suds and turned to Zana. „You have no idea how unbearable life has become for the humans in the past year! They can't leave their villages, they can't trade, they have to show identification all the time... and the soldiers can do to them what they want without having to fear any consequences - and they're taking full advantage of that!" She shook her head. „It's not us who are escalating the situation."

„What if your uncle thinks he can force  _ Gres _ to back down - by starting to execute his prisoners?" Zana asked.

Lora shook her head. „We're not going to let anybody get killed."

„How can you be so sure of that?"

„Because I trust Gres! And so should you." She took Zana by the shoulders. „He knows what he's doing. He's been leading the HFL for years now, and they were never able to shut us down." She shook her head, admiration shining in her eyes. „Gres has always another trick up his sleeve."

Zana shook off her hands. „I wish I had your faith, but I'm not willing to gamble Yuma's life - or that of Alan, or Peet - on nothing more than your word, Lora. I'm sorry. That's unacceptable to me."

Lora stepped back, all sympathy evaporated. „You have no choice but to accept it. I'm sorry, too - I'd have loved to welcome you as a sister to the cause. Now it seems I have to regard you as an accomplice of the murderous system instead."

Zana threw up her hands in frustration. „Lora..."

„There you are - that human of yours wants to see you." Mano, one of the Chimps in Katlin's company, snatched an apple from the table and took a bite while he waved for Zana to come with him.

Zana shot a fierce look to the girl. „This conversation isn't over yet!"

„You're not going to turn me away from the mission!" Lora shouted after her.


	8. Chapter 8

Virdon sat up with a start when the prisoners in the other cells suddenly started shouting. It took him a moment to make out what they were saying; then he smiled wryly.

„Get the humans out of here, warden! This isn't a zoo!"

„It's unhygienic!"

„We aren't animals, to be put together with them! I want to see my lawyer!"

„They stink!"

_ „Silence!" _ A bat banged against doors and bars, and the outrage slowly subsided. A key was pushed into the lock of his door; Virdon got up from his cot and retreated to the far wall.

„There it is, ma'am. Are you sure you want to be alone with it?"

The door swung open to reveal Mika and a matronly chimp who nervously kneaded a handkerchief in her hands. She looked as if she was going to have a nervous breakdown any moment, but she bravely nodded to the warden, although she didn't dare to look at Virdon.

This had to be Lora's mother. To his surprise, Virdon realized that she was afraid of him.

„I'll be right here, ma'am," Mika said and pointed to the wall across from Virdon's cell. „If it makes as much as a move..." He lifted his club meaningfully. Then he looked at Virdon. „You'll speak respectfully to the missus, or you'll taste the full force of the law, if you get my drift." He waited until Virdon had nodded his understanding, then retreated to his post across the corridor.

Virdon returned his gaze to the chimp who was still hovering at the threshold, and tried a reassuring smile. „Pleased to meet you, ma'am."

The woman lifted fearful eyes to him, but didn't say a word. Virdon brushed his fingertips across his brow; how to ease her distress?

He finally sat down on the floor, hands loosely folded around one knee, and gestured invitingly to his cot. „Please, sit down. There's no need to be afraid - I mean you no harm."

She finally took two steps in and gingerly sat down on the edge of the bunk. Took a deep breath, then another one. When she finally spoke, she couldn't suppress a slight tremble in her voice. „What do you people want with my daughter?"

„They're not my people," Virdon told her, though she shook her head at that. „And I had the impression that she was with the HLF by her own free will."

„That is a lie! You... you kidnapped her!"

„She told me herself that she was working for better human-simian relations." Virdon watched her closely. That last remark had stirred a weary recognition. The woman sighed.

„She was very passionate about the plight of humans. We raised her to care about injustice... equality..." Tears welled up in her eyes. „And now she's the victim of this  _ savagery!" _

„Lora is a member of the HLF," Virdon repeated. „Even if they are now using her to put pressure on the prefect, they won't hurt her."

„How can you know that?" Lora's mother was dabbing her eyes. „She's so innocent, she has no idea what she's gotten involved with." Virdon was inclined to agree with her on that last point.

„What if one of the humans approaches her... indecently?" She pressed the handkerchief to her mouth.

Virdon gaped at her. Then he hastily brought his features under control before she could notice. „I... I don't think that will happen..."

„Why not? Now that we're suddenly all  _ people _ ..." She stared at him indignantly, as if he had just made that outrageous suggestion.

Virdon cast for something to reassure her. „Gres wouldn't allow that. He's very protective of your daughter."

Which was a blatant lie - but why worsen the poor woman's anguish? Virdon leaned slightly forward. „Ma'am... if you have any means to reach the prefect..."

The woman sniffed and looked at him with surprise. „He's my brother. Didn't you know that?"

Virdon stared at her for a moment. Lora was the prefect's niece? So was this the reason he had sent Burke to negotiate? He slowly shook his head. „No, I didn't know. Look, if you could convince your brother to relax those restrictions on the humans... ease their lot a bit... I'm sure the situation would improve - Gres might back off on his demands..."

But the woman was already shaking her head. „Dolan has been trying to persuade him of that in the last few days, but Aken thinks that if he starts to give in, the humans will get more restless, and the rebels even more brazen."

„Your husband must keep trying," Virdon persisted. „Or this will end in bloodshed..."

„He..." The woman began, but turned her head just like Virdon when the door to the jail suddenly burst open. At the opposite wall, Mika straightened; he didn't seem surprised to see two of his comrades stride past him.

The door to the neighbouring cell opened; a quick shuffle, and both Virdon and his visitor gaped at Boone, who was led out of his cell by his guards. Nobody said a word until the door had closed behind them. Then the woman spoke up. „Mika, what... what is going on?"

The warden shrugged, eyeing Virdon with a malicious smile. „Apparently, the rebels thought it funny to set a deadline of their own, and now the prefect is sending them a message. Your friend is going to the block right now." He jerked his chin to the little window of Virdon's cell. „You can watch if you like."

„A... a deadline of their own?" Lora's mother whispered. „What does that mean?"

„It means," Virdon said urgently, „that your husband must speak to your brother again. And be more convincing this time."

* * *

"... so, Danny says, 'with this, I can manage fifty lawns in one weekend. We'll be rich in no time!' - yeah, we had to find a new way to school. Good thing I insisted on fake identities right from the start."

Katlin laughed, a happy, carefree sound that didn't really fit into a world ruled by apes. As it turned out, Burke didn't have to hunt her down - he had run into her just outside the door; and then he'd spent the last hour digging in his memory for stories to tease that laughter out again and again... and to keep her there with him, in this dark, dusty hole that Gres had confined him to.

So what if Gres had probably sent her as his warden. Somehow, rummaging through the rotten scraps of his people's past glory wasn't so depressing while she perched on the workbench, dangling one leg, and picking at old wires.

And yeah, that last story had been good, even if he'd had to fiddle around with the details a bit; he didn't want to have to explain what a lawn robot did or how they had come across one in this pre-industrial world.

„It was nice of your master to send you to school," Katlin said thoughtfully.

Oh. Yeah. Or explain why he had gone to school, when only ape kids got to do that, actually.

„He wasn't so bad," Burke murmured, eyes fixed on the gun. „I wish I had a soldering iron..."

„A what?"

Burke shook his head. „Never mind." He smiled at her. „It's nice of you to keep me company in this dusty hole."

„I'm just here for the stories," she teased him. „They're funny, and interesting, even if they're not true."

„Hey!" He put a hand on his chest. „That hurt. Went right through the heart."

Katlin laughed again, and Burke thought he'd like to listen to her all day. Maybe it was because she looked so much like Sondra, reminding him of that old life he had lost... when everything was normal, and  _ right, _ and apes lived in zoos.

Too bad she'd end up as Gres' cannon fodder sooner or later.

„How did you come to serve Gres?" he asked. „You'd be fit to lead your own resistance."

Katlin frowned at his abrupt change of subject. „No, I wouldn't have been. I didn't know the first thing about military tactics, or how to organize such a big group of people. There's more to it than just sneaking into town at night and smearing paroles on the garrison's walls. You have to feed your people, train them, keep the troublemakers in line..."

„Like the fellow who killed one of Aken's soldiers?" Burke got up and went to the heap of wires in the corner. Maybe he could use some of them to exchange the ones that had been fused together inside the gun...

„Kuma said he had no choice - it was him or them."

Burke selected some wires. „And you believe him."

He glanced over his shoulder at her when she didn't answer immediately. Katlin shrugged. „Of course. He's one of us. Sometimes you can't avoid victims, when you're in a tight situation..."

„Like the prefect's hostages?"

He saw Katlin clench her jaw. „I'm really sorry for your friends, Pete - but this is a war. You don't get to choose if you want to take part or not."

Burke watched her face, the wires in his hand forgotten. „What happened?"

Katlin stared into the distance, suddenly looking tired. „They killed my husband." She glanced up to him. „Do you know how humans are executed around here?" She didn't wait for his answer. „They are beaten to death with a club. Like rats."

She looked away and swallowed. „And the rest of the village is made to watch. Just like you let a dead rat lie around for a few days to send a message to the other rats. It works, both with rats and with humans."

Burke stood there for a moment, stunned. Then he went to sit down beside her and put his arm around her shoulders. „I... I'm sorry." He didn't know what else to say.

Katlin stiffened, and he let his arm drop away, trying not to feel rejected.

„It was years ago. And I swore to myself, even after that, that I'd never take up arms against them, that I was better than that. But things kept happening, and then you reach a point where you just... can't take it anymore."

„Yeah," Burke said with a heavy voice. Did he know that feeling. If it wasn't for Al, he'd probably have gone on a rampage by now... 

He sneaked a sideways glance at her, but she had dipped her head, and her hair was hiding her face from him. It looked soft and fine, shimmering in the torchlight, and he fought the sudden urge to touch it, to see if it really was so soft...

„So promise me you'll tell me the truth at least once," Katlin said suddenly. She lifted her head to look into his eyes, and Burke found he couldn't look away. „Why did you really follow me at my village?"

He thought of Sondra. „You reminded me of someone I once knew."

Her eyes were dark. „Was she killed, too?"

He let out a sharp breath. „No... 's far as I know, she's alright." Dead for centuries - or even longer... so, technically, alright.

„Then what happened?" Katlin's eyes were as soft as her voice now, holding him in place.

Burke shifted uncomfortably. „We just... served different masters," he muttered, feeling like a dirty liar. Well, it was true, wasn't it, with both of them practically married to their careers? So what if Katlin would take his metaphor literally? He just couldn't think of a way to explain his former life to her without giving away the truth, the crazy, fantastical truth, and he didn't know what would be worse: if she thought of him as a pathological liar or a basketcase, or if she actually believed him and realized what mankind had lost.

„Oh." She looked away again. „I'm so sorry. That's always hard."

And suddenly, he wanted to tell her something that was true, from beginning to end, no tricks, no omissions; wanted to get her to understand...

... yeah, what? He couldn’t say. He just knew he couldn’t let her dismiss him like that.

"My mother was shot when I was sixteen."

Why the  _ hell...  _ of all truths, why did he have to choose that one? What stupid part of his brain had decided that  _ this  _ would be his secret to share?

Katlin turned towards him, but he couldn't move; he just sat there, frozen, mute, too terrified to think.

A slim, warm hand slipped into his, and squeezed it lightly. "Oh, Pete, that's... what did they shoot her for?"

And that question - of course apes would shoot you for  _ something,  _ for violating one of their million rules - somehow jump-started his brain again, although his tongue was still clumsy. "For nothing. She was just... in the wrong place at the wrong time." Drive-by shooting. Mom had been on the way to the store, and actually,  _ he  _ should've gone for groceries, only he wasn't home, he was hanging out with some friends...

_ Should've been me. Should've been me. _

"I'm so sorry, Pete. I know what it's like to lose someone you love."

"It shouldn't have happened." He had somehow lost his voice, it only came out as a whisper.

"No, it shouldn't have." Katlin was whispering, too. Her eyes were still on him, beautiful eyes, dark with his pain.

The world went quiet. Burke felt as if he was falling into the sky, a wide, blue infinity.

_ I never got around to doing that stratosphere jump... _

Then his thoughts went quiet, too.

She brought her other hand up to caress his neck, his hair, his face, so, so gently. As if she cared for him. He had to close his eyes for a second at that thought, shied away from it, but she didn't let go, and he absently put the gun down behind him and cupped her face. Her throat was radiating heat against his palm and he brushed his fingers over it, let them glide down to her collarbone. His free arm slid from her shoulders, down her back, and he pulled her closer-

He didn't know what made him break away - some new instinct he'd developed among the apes, some tingling at the base of his spine that warned him they were no longer alone. He looked up: A gorilla leaned in the doorway, an odd light in his eyes.

Burke blinked. He had seen that ape before... Kuma. The guy who had shot the soldier and then led his comrades to the HFL's hideout in the woods.

„Don't you mind me," Kuma said, a strange smile on his lips. „I know humans are always in heat. Can't help yourselves, can you, and I got used to you rutting in the hallways. Sometimes I even like to watch."

With a start, Burke realized that the glint in Kuma's eye was arousal.

_ Jesus Christ. _

„Go away, Kuma," Katlin said, annoyed. „Can't you find someone else to get off of?" She brushed a stray lock out of her face and gave Burke a sideways glance. Gauging his reaction on the freakout meter? Hell, fifty out of ten!

„How do you even sleep at night?" Burke murmured.

„I lock my door," Katlin said matter-of-factly.

„Gres wants to see you," Kuma said, not at all embarrassed.

Katlin hopped down from the workbench, no trace of emotion on her face. „I'll ask him if he can find a... what did you call that iron?" she didn't look at him, her voice cool and businesslike.

„Soldering iron," Burke muttered, picking up the gun.

„Right." She followed Kuma without looking back.

Burke stared at the wires in his hand.


	9. Chapter 9

Galen jumped up from his bunk in alarm, but slumped against the wall with a sigh when he saw who was entering his cell. „If I don't die in the main square, it will be because you gave me a heart attack before," he greeted Dolan.

The other ape didn't smile. „I'm sorry to have frightened you," he said absently, „but you're safe for the time being. Aken will first kill the humans before he..." He sank down on the bunk, which creaked ominously.

„I really tried to talk him out of it," he continued. „But he wouldn't listen to me. This whole business with the HLF has gotten out of hand, and he felt he had to send a signal." He met Galen's gaze. „They had sent another list, threatening to kill Lora if he didn't meet their demands for food and weapons in the next two days; that's when Aken decided to go through with the executions."

Galen slowly sat down beside him. „It seems that the HLF is doing everything in their power to escalate this conflict, too."

„They will kill Lora," Dolan repeated in a quavering voice.

Galen put a hand on his shoulder. „Peet won't allow that to happen. He'll bring her safely home, Dolan. I trust him completely."

Dolan clenched his fists in his lap. „How can you be so sure? He's a human..."

Galen studied his face for a moment. „Because he suffered so that I could survive, when nobody was there who could have forced him to. He did it because he felt a friendship towards me. He's a free human, Dolan, and he does this out of his own free will."

„Well, I suppose he feels friendship towards the other human, at least," Dolan murmured. „But there are no free humans, Yuma - they have no legal status at all, you couldn't free them if you wanted to. There's no concept for such a thing in the law."

„Laws are ape-made," Galen pointed out. „They can be changed, if perception of what is just changes."

Dolan snorted. „That is a dangerous thing to say - or even to think. It's heresy. Everyone knows that the law was received as a spiritual revelation by the Lawgiver, and any change to it presumes to be somehow more evolved than him." He shot Galen a meaningful look.

Quoting official doctrine _ now _ could mean that Dolan thought they had listeners, or that he had decided that his dabbling in the resistance had become too dangerous and that he wanted to return to the orthodox fold - maybe he thought it would move Aken to pursue the rescue of his niece more vigorously. Or...

Galen smiled innocently. „I see you found my book interesting."

„I have no idea why you'd say such a thing," Dolan murmured.

Well, maybe that was even true; there was no reason to assume that a human rights activist would automatically be interested in suppressed facts about simian history, no more than an Equal Opportunities activist would be moved by human plight. Dissenters' groups and secret societies had been mushrooming in every province in the last fifty years; Galen would've found it hilarious that their competitiveness and mutual distrust helped to keep each other in check much more thoroughly than even Zaius' secret police was able to, if he hadn't been caught up in a dissenters' group himself... even if that group currently consisted only of him.

Well, if he wanted to get out of here alive, he just had to assume that Dolan  _ had _ read the book, and proceed from there.

„Ah, forgive me if I presumed too much," he said with the same faked innocence. „It was in the way you stressed the 'everybody knows'..."

„I wouldn't be caught dead reading a heretic book," Dolan said in the same low voice, „But  _ if _ I'd read it, I'd be shocked at the discrepancies between the official version of the rise of apekind and the one I'd have found inside its pages..."

„Yes, I can imagine you would be," Galen murmured. „I know I was. In fact, I was so beside myself that I walked out of the council house without even realizing that I had tucked that book under my robes."

Dolan chuckled, then coughed to mask the sound. „Would you say you were gripped by a higher understanding and guided by an irresistible force?"

„That is a most apt description," Galen agreed. „I'm glad the higher wisdom has found a way to stay out of governmental confines again."

Dolan cleared his throat. „What did you have in mind with it, if you hadn't run into Aken's men?"

„Well, I'm still optimistic that we'll part on friendly terms," Galen began. He ignored Dolan's sad chuckle and continued, „but in case that we don't, I'd still hope that the truth will prevail. We cannot hope to build a lasting civilisation on a foundation of lies."

„Distributing copies of that book would be a very subversive thing to do," Dolan mused, not looking at him.

„It would be an exceptionally dangerous thing to do," Galen pointed out.

Dolan shrugged. „No more dangerous than forwarding money and information to people claiming to fight for a better world. But perhaps more rewarding." He looked at Galen from the corner of his eyes. „You are willing to take that risk."

„I don't have a family to suffer for my sins." He had broken off all contact to his parents, which was something that Dolan couldn't do with his wife and daughter - they depended on him.

„They are fully on my side. And yes - my own child had been caught up in the middle of it. But it is too late now to pull back. The tiles are being arranged on the board as we speak, and once they start falling, nobody will be able to stop the avalanche anymore. We need to make sure that they are arranged in the right way before it's too late."

He rose. „Don't worry about your book, Yuma - you know what they say about the truth: once the flame has jumped to your roof, the whole town will be on fire shortly."

„That's what they say about gossip," Galen said mildly.

Dolan smiled, a bit embarrassed. „Well, I found it fitting for any kind of information that someone doesn't want to be known..."

„And you're right, of course. I can't thank you enough, Dolan. Now let's just hope that Peet will return in time, and none of this will become necessary."

* * *

The murmuring of the crowd had swollen steadily in volume, as more humans were herded towards the main square. Aken had carted half of his prefecture to the execution site, at least from the human side of it. The apes were there of their own choice, Virdon assumed - they didn't look half as frightened or hate-filled as the humans. For the humans, attendance was obligatory; the prefect wanted to make sure that his message reached every human, including the HLF's informants. Especially them.

Virdon had an excellent view of the execution platform, which probably wasn't a coincidence. By the natural order of ape society, he would be next, because Aken would reserve the most painful loss for Gres - a fellow ape - for the end. That was a serious miscalculation on Aken's side - naturally, since the prefect believed them all to be members of Gres' organization.

From Aken's point of view, Gres would lose three of his fighters, including an ape, if he didn't return Lora. In reality, Gres would lose one of his fighters, two strangers he didn't care for at all (one of whom would still serve to incite hatred against Aken in the human population by his sacrifice), but win Burke and Zana in exchange. All while still keeping Lora.

By now, Virdon was fearing for the girl's life - a man who was ruthless enough to sacrifice the lives of three hostages for a tactical advantage wouldn't stop at killing an innocent girl if that meant he could strike a killing blow against the prefect. Lora's death would have the  _ simian _ part of the population clamoring for Aken's head. He'd be forced to deliver a major victory against the rebels to keep his position. Like a campaign against the rebels' headquarters...

A sharp crack tore him out of his vision of fire, blood, and screaming human children. It reverberated from the walls of the surrounding buildings like a gunshot. Virdon craned his neck to see where it was coming from.

A gorilla was walking towards the execution platform, cracking two rods together in a steady rhythm; with each crack, the murmur was dying down until a deadly silence had descended upon the square. He was followed by two chimpanzee soldiers with Boone between them, his hands tied behind his back. The crowd parted, giving them a wide berth.

Another crack sounded, sharp like a whip, and Virdon winced.

They had reached the platform when the prisoner's legs collapsed under him at the foot of the stairs. Virdon's mouth went dry; he couldn't tear his eyes away from the drama below. He remembered how Boone had gone back to sleep, soothed by the absolute certainty that his leader would come and save him.

The chimpanzees hoisted him up under the arms and dragged him up the stairs and towards a massive block of wood. Its top was hollowed - to fit a head, human or simian. The crowd stirred, shifted, a nervous beast. Murmurs rippled through it like a breeze over the lake, chopping the waters.

The soldiers walked their prisoner to the block and forced him to kneel. One of them pressed his head into the hollow. The murmurs grew louder, a low, angry hum, and the soldiers surrounding the square took a step forward and raised their weapons as one man.

The crowd hushed, but the silence was thick with tension.

„Oh my god," Virdon whispered.

The executioner had stepped forward and lifted...

... not a sword. A club.

Virdon hadn't expected a firing squad, but... but  _ this? _

The gorilla bent back a little further to build up momentum...

_ Don't look, don't look _

„Lord, have mercy on this man's soul," Virdon said hastily.

The club came down.

„... grant... grant him your everlasting peace, Amen," he had to raise his voice, so he wouldn't hear the sound of wood connecting with... connecting with...

The crowd cried out, once.

Virdon leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes.

„Have mercy on us all."


	10. Chapter 10

„Peet! There you are - and already at work for the cause, I see. Very good." Zana hoped her voice was laced with enough false cheer to convince Mano that despite her heated exchange with Lora, she was still a devout follower of Gres' vision. It wouldn't make their escape easier if Mano reported back to Gres that she was trying to pry the girl away from his dirty, manipulative paws.

The human looked up from the machine he was juggling on his knees and frowned at her. „'Work for the Cause'? What did they drug you with?"

„The truth, Peet, just the truth." She saw his eyes widen, and hastily continued, „Yes, I know, they took me by surprise... and by force... but after I listened to what they had to say, about raising the awareness of the people, well. I found I agreed with them."

Peet nodded slowly, sarcasm bright in his eyes. „Uh-huh..."

„Your human doesn't seem very enthusiastic," Mano remarked from the door.

Zana cursed silently; she had hoped he'd gone away by now. Now she had to keep up the act.

„Well, he's a human," she said, „I guess I have to dumb it down a bit more..."

Peet's hands jerked, and the thing he was working on slipped from his knees and clattered on the floor. „Shit!"

Behind her, Mano cackled.

„Language, Peet..." She quickly bent down, scooped up the metal case and smashed it into his palm. The wires in it were sticking out in every direction, biting into her fingers. _Play along,_ she mouthed at him. „And don't be so clumsy - Gres wants to use that thing!"

He shot her a withering glare, but she saw his shoulders relax, and breathed a little lighter. Now she only had to think of a way to tell him where they could meet without a guard hanging on every word she said... She crouched down before him as if she was talking to a little child. The position also had the advantage of completely concealing her face from Mano.

„It's important that you do your best to repair this," she gestured to the eviscerated machine in Peet's hands, „because Gres needs it to defeat the prefect. It's our only chance to liberate the humans under his heel. Do you understand?"

Peet's eyes had an unholy gleam that promised her he'd make her pay for this later, but he just nodded and said, „yes'm" like a good, tame human, and Mano was scratching his belly and not paying too much attention anymore. She rose.

„When you're done with this, I want you to come over to the kitchen - the sink is clogged. Now don't look at me like this," she put on her most imperious tone, „every task is a work for the cause. People have to eat, and they don't want to eat from dirty plates. It's unhygienic." Her eyes bored into Peet's. _We can talk there without anyone listening in, don't you get it?_

Peet took a deep, calming breath and leaned back to look her in the eye. „At your service, missus." Zana cringed internally at his choice of address. Oh, she'd never hear the end of it...

When they were two steps away from the door, they heard something metallic hitting the wall with a crash. Zana hoped it was that weapon he had been working on.

Mano laughed. „Your boy has a temper."

„I like him that way," Zana said, a sudden fondness constricting her heart.

„Better keep an eye on him then," Mano said casually. „'Cause Kuma likes the fiery ones a bit too much."

Zana shot him an irritated look. „I have no idea what..." her voice trailed away when the meaning of Mano's words sank in. At her stare, he licked his lips and waggled his eyebrows.

Zana stopped in the middle of the corridor. „You can't be serious."

Mano held up his hands. „Hey, I don't judge! Under the old order, they'd have flogged poor Kuma for bestiality. But Gres says the humans are people, too - we're to call them 'the other people'. So why's it wrong now if people express their, ah, feelings for each other?"

„Do they?" Zana couldn't believe it. „Are you saying that the humans are consenting to... that?"

„Sure they are - what else can they do?" Mano said, nonplussed. „Hey, it's better to make love than war, right?"

Slowly, carefully, Zana relaxed her hands. „Does Gres know about this?"

Mano shrugged. „As long as everyone's doing their job, Gres doesn't care how people spend their downtime."

„Where is Kuma now?" She very much _didn_ ' _t_ want to see what Kuma was doing with... or to... the humans around here, but she couldn't go to Gres with this just on hearsay.

_All this noble claptrap of yours, those grand visions you used to lure poor Lora in... I'll throw them right back into your face, you bloody hypocrite._

Mano shook his head. „You don't want to disturb him when he's in the middle of something..."

He suddenly found himself against the wall, Zana's face just inches away from his.

_„Where?"_

* * *

The sink really was clogged; Burke had half expected to find that the problem was just as fake as Zana's sudden enthusiasm for „the Cause," but to his dismay, he'd really have to remove the pipe and take care of the gunk inside.

Ah, the joys of human servitude. He went to find someone to give him a pipe wrench.

One of the humans pointed him to a corridor that led away from the canteen and into the storage area of the organization, and Burke took the opportunity to peek into every room he passed. Whoever was responsible for this department of the resistance company was doing a damn fine job - the shelves were stacked with dried food, blankets, clothes, tools (no wrench, though), and what he supposed were medicinal herbs.

Some doors were locked; maybe they saw the armory as part of their supplies. Or maybe they were storing other things that needed heightened security, though Burke couldn't imagine what they would be, considering the level of civilization this world had fallen back to. Though considering it was led by apes, it was probably a pretty decent achievement to have gotten even this far.

When he turned a corner, he suddenly found himself face to face with a group of three people, one of them Katlin. They paid him no heed, too deeply engrossed in a heated, if whispered, debate.

„You just have to be extra cautious," Katlin was saying. „Only approach after dark, only visit our most reliable supporters..."

„They'll have tightened security around every village now," one of the others argued - a young man with dark, short-cropped hair and a nasty scar on his cheek. It looked like a branding. So it probably was one.

„I know," Katlin said, and laid an encouraging hand on his shoulder. „That's why I'm giving this run to you, Eska. You're our best scout - if someone can detect a gap in their security, it's you."

The boy smiled at her, and Burke saw his shoulders relax. „I'll find a way."

Katlin squeezed his shoulder again before she let go. „I know you will. Be careful, though. I don't want to lose you to these monkeys."

„We wouldn't have this problem if Kuma hadn't shot the prefect's man," the other man growled. He was older, though age was difficult to estimate with these people - the hard life edged itself into their faces early on, and sucked the color from their hair. „Supply runs are getting more dangerous, with worse results. _If_ our scouts come back at all. And now we lost our hideout at Ictala, too..."

„Stop this right now, Marlon!" Katlin snapped. „I don't want to hear another word! Kuma is Gres' second, you'll treat him with the respect that position demands!"

She hadn't demanded respect for the person occupying that position, Burke noted; still...

„He's right, you know?" he said, after the two men had squeezed themselves past him, Marlon still muttering under his breath that he was doing this out of respect for _Katlin,_ not that gorilla. „If any of you had fucked up this bad, I doubt they'd still be second-in-command."

Katlin frowned at him. „What are you doing here?"

He gave her his best innocent smile. „I was tasked with unclogging the pipe under the kitchen sink, for the Good of the People. It's doing the tyrant's work by resisting the glorious cleansing of the revolutionary dishwater. But I need the Wrench of Liberation to begin the Great Work."

Katlin bit her lip. „This way." She turned away from him, still shaking her head, and began to walk down the corridor.

„Why did you rip into the poor fella like that?" Burke wanted to know as he followed her.

Katlin didn't turn her head. „If I allow this kind of mutinous talk to spread, the resistance will tear itself apart in short order. It's my job to uphold discipline."

„And maybe it should be _Gres'_ job to keep his gorilla in check, so that other members of his organization don't feel pissed off so much about that perv," Burke pointed out. „Did he get a demotion for this stunt? He should've been demoted for pulling this kind of shit, you know."

„I'm sure he did get reprimanded."

„You're _sure?"_

Now she did throw him a glance over her shoulder. Her amusement at his joke had evaporated again. „I trust Gres."

„Why?" Burke exploded. He squeezed past Katlin and blocked her way. „On what basis do you trust that ape? As far as I can see, the conditions for humans in his prefecture are worse than elsewhere, not better, and as your man just pointed out, they're getting _still_ worse. And Kuma plays a not unimportant part in that development, and _I_ don't see Gres reining him in, or kicking his ass for shooting that guard and leading the whole damn posse to your hideout..."

„Kuma had vital information," Katlin interrupted him. „Information that _had_ to reach Gres, no matter what."

Burke stared at her. „No matter what? No matter how many _human_ lives it'd cost, you mean - what do you think will happen to your village? The prefect will punish them for having a rebel hideout in their neighbourhood!"

Katlin brushed her hair out of her face. She looked worn out and defiant. „I know. They're _my_ people, in case you've forgotten!"

Burke huffed, incredulous. „I can understand that Gres doesn't care too much about them - he's an ape - but I can't believe that you'd throw all these people to the wolves for some good-night stories of a damn monkey!"

„They're not stories!" Katlin was in his face all of a sudden, face tense. „Gres has a _vision!_ The vision of a better life, a better future for the humans! What kind of vision do you have, huh? To spend your life as Zana's and whatshisname's servant?"

„We're not their servants," Burke muttered.

„So what are you?" Katlin scoffed. „Their pets?"

„For someone who believes in Gres' visions, you're pretty dismissive of the idea that we could be friends," Burke retorted. When had this discussion become about him?

Katlin nodded, her eyes blazing. „So as long as you've secured some nice apes for yourself, who see you as friends, the rest of us can toil away as slaves?"

„I never said that!" Burke protested. „I'm all for freeing all humans, I just don't believe that Gres is, too."

Katlin leaned against the wall and folded her arms. „So how do _you_ plan to go about human liberation? What's your vision?"

Burke gaped at her. He... he had no idea how to answer that question. Ever since he had discovered that ancient surgery book in Zaius' secret stash, he had known they were fucked. There was no way back to their own time - that bastard Hasslein had marooned them in some far future where apes ruled the world.

But he had avoided thinking about what that meant for him and Al, in the long run. As long as they were just one patrol raid ahead of Urko, it just didn't make sense to plan their retirement. He'd give it some thought once they had reached those mountains in the north, where the gorilla's reach supposedly ended.

As for the other humans of this world... Burke didn't really feel a kinship to them. They were strangers, cowering before the fucking monkeys as if that was the natural order of things.

But Katlin didn't. She was the only human he had met so far who seemed... normal. He could imagine her in his own time, walking down the street, head held high, confident, sexy...

She was still glaring at him, a slight, derisive smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

Burke rubbed his nose. He'd be damned if he'd leave her with that monkey's vision as her only option.

„My vision," he said slowly, „is that _you_ lead that revolution." He ploughed on when she opened her mouth, cutting off her protest. „You're a better leader than Gres will ever be. You'd never tolerate that old perv Kuma abusing the people who follow you. Who _trust_ you. Who put all their hopes in you. Who... who admire you."

He took a deep breath. „I've seen it in their eyes. Even these two guys whose asses you kicked - they love you. They take that kicking, on top of Kuma groping them in a dark corridor or whatever the hell his kink is, and they don't even hold it against you that you're protecting that asshole instead of them."

„I'm not protecting Kuma," Katlin said weakly, but she averted her eyes. A bright red had crept up her throat and into her face. Yeah, poor redheads with their white skin, never able to hide their embarrassment, or excitement...

„Gres thinks that Kuma's usefulness outweighs his... issues," Katlin murmured. „We _all_ put up with Kuma. When I joined the HLF, I agreed to follow Gres' rules, of my own free will, and every human here agreed to it, too." She looked up to meet his eyes. „So we have to honor that agreement." She pushed away from the wall and continued her way down the corridor.

„But Kuma is exploiting and abusing that agreement," Burke argued when he caught up to her, „and Gres isn't stepping in, so he's violating it, too. So you aren't bound to that damn agreement anymore, either!"

Katlin opened a door and stopped to light a torch. Shelves with tools emerged from the darkness; the room looked as if the HLF had raided an hardware store.

„The HLF is our only chance to push back against the prefect," Katlin said, scanning the shelves. " „And it's not just Aken - it's the neighbouring prefects and their guards, and it's Chief General Urko in the City, and his command over all the guards in all prefectures, from here to the Iron Mountains, that we're up against. We _need_ an ape with military experience, or we won't stand a chance."

„And so you pay your way to freedom with even more abuse by apes," Burke muttered. „Just _different_ apes, apes with a _vision."_

Katlin grabbed the shelf with both hands; she didn't look at him. „I know how just taking each day as it comes is easier than looking at the big picture, Pete. Because the big picture is that humans are lower than the dust under the apes' feet." She shook her head. „But if you never look up while you're living that day, you'll spend it in the dust. And that's something I can't go back to."

She ducked, pulled a wrench from a lower shelf, and slapped it into his hand. „This day of looking up will come for you, too. I just hope it won't happen only at the last day of your life. It's better to look ahead with hope, than to look back with regret."

She didn't wait for his answer. Burke weighed the wrench in his hand, feeling desolate.

_I just hope you won't come to regret pinning your hopes on that monkey, lady._


	11. Chapter 11

"... and we need to keep the pressure on..." Gres looked up with a frown as Zana marched into his office. He straightened up from the map he and his lieutenants had bent over; Zana recognized Katlin, but not the other human. Gres sure knew how to keep up appearances.

„We need to talk."

Gres huffed a little laugh. „Those words are the reason I never married..."

„Mano here just told me an interesting little story about how your people spend their free time," Zana said. She kept her voice calm.

Gres' eyes widened in confusion. „And that's why you come crashing through the door? The operative word of 'free time' is 'free' - this," he gestured towards the map, „is work. So if you'd be so kind and let me get back to it..."

Instead, Zana strode over and leaned on the table. „The operative word seems to apply only to the simian part of your movement. Did you know that some of your apes are forcing sexual favors from the humans?"

Behind Gres, Zana saw Katlin and the other human exchange a look; Gres, on the other hand, just looked irritated. „That's complete nonsense. And an outrageous accusation for which neither you nor Mano have proof, I'd wager."

Zana had an involuntary flashback to what she had just witnessed in a dark, abandoned corridor. „You're the leader of this organisation, and you're trying to tell me that you're not aware of what's going on under your very nose?"

Now Gres also leaned on the table, bringing his face close to hers. „I've been working with these people for years, and I'd trust any of them with my life. You're not going to undermine the trust that binds us together with these filthy, unfounded accusations..."

„You're sure invested in that organisation of yours," Zana hissed, „but despite all the high and noble talk about equality, I've found nothing but the old hierarchy here, apes at the top, humans at the bottom, but back in the capital, they were at least safe from this kind of exploitation! As long as you're turning a blind eye to that, don't talk to me about trust!"

„Either present proof or get the blast out of here!" Gres growled.

_ "I saw him!" _

"Saw him do what, exactly? Did he touch a human inappropriately? Force himself on any of them?"

_ He knows exactly what's going on,  _ Zana realized; Gres had just outlined his rules for this depravity, and Kuma knew how to toe the line.

... because Kuma liked to  _ watch;  _ he kept a safe distance, and he followed all of Gres' rules, but that didn't mean he wasn't in complete control - Zana shoved back the memory of Kuma's low voice, telling the human couple exactly what to do, and when, and how... and of the  _ other _ noises he made.

Gres pulled back from the table; he looked irritated, Zana thought, not outraged or mortified. „Very well, I'll look into the matter," his gaze had already dropped to the map again. „If there's something to it, people will face disciplinary measures." He glanced up at her. „Now if you'd excuse us..."

The door flew open again.

„When did people stop respecting my closed door?" Gres roared, but the human didn't even flinch. He was pale, Zana noticed, and looked as if in shock.

„They killed him, Gres," he said hoarsely. „They killed Boone. On the main square. The prefect had ordered it." He handed the Chimp a crumpled slip of paper. Zana noted its size - they had to be using carrier pigeons. No matter how much she loathed the man, she had to admire his ingenuity.

Gres quickly scanned the message, and cursed. Zana glanced at the humans: Katlin was ashen - even her fingertips were gray. The other human had tears in his eyes.

„Damn that lice-ridden son of a monkey!" Gres said flatly. He crumpled up the paper and threw it onto the table with disgust. „He really wants to know, doesn't he?"

„You should back off before this escalates even further," Zana said.

Gres laughed, incredulous. „Back off? What do you think will happen if I retreat? He'll advance. That's not what we've been fighting for. That's not what Boone has died for, on that block."

Zana shook her head. „What else can you do?"

Gres glanced to the humans who stood silently, their faces impenetrable. „Aken thinks we're bluffing. I'm going to set him right about that. Find Kuma..."

With a start, Zana realized what he was going to do.

"... and get Lora."

* * *

Burke was still fighting with the pipe wrench when Zana rushed into the dark kitchen and ducked behind the sink.

„You couldn't have found another job for me?" he grumbled, carefully keeping his voice down. The furtive glances Zana shot over the kitchen counter made it clear enough that this was a conspiratorial meeting. Well, that and the late hour; everyone else was already asleep or engaged in activities Burke preferred not to think about.

The wrench slid off the pipe again. „Fuck this shi..."

„The prefect had Gres' human executed," Zana hissed. „And now Gres has decided to pay him back by killing Lora!"

_ Oh, shit. _ Burke sat up and threw the wrench aside.  _ And here I'm fighting with the damn kitchen sink. _

„Time to say goodbye to Gres and his Merry Men, then," he whispered. „I hadn't really pegged him as a diplomat, anyway. Do you know where they're holding her?"

„In a storage room. But it's locked, and I think Kuma has the key."

Burke grinned at her. „Ah, the lock is the least of our worries. What we need is a plan for how to get away from here as fast as possible without them following us." Or putting a bullet in their heads. Burke remembered the little stone-faced guy who had escorted him here. Well, he'd worry about that later.

„I was hoping you'd have thought of something," Zana whispered.

„Why me? You've been here longer than me! You should have at least an idea of the layout by now - all I've seen from their lair was that room full of junk and that damn drain!" He jerked his thumb towards the pipe behind him.

„I know how to get to the exit," Zana assured him, „but it's guarded, too..."

„I'll take care of that."

Zana glanced at him like she always did at any hint of violence from him - a wary expression as if he'd go down on all fours and howl at the moon any moment. He never knew if he was amused or annoyed by it. „Do you know where they have their horses?"

But Zana shook her head at that. Burke leaned back against the kitchen cabinet and thought hard. The women wouldn't be able to keep up with him if they were forced to run - the rebels would catch up to them in no time on horseback, and even if they didn't, they wouldn't make it back to the town in time to save Al...

„Did you repair that weapon?" Zana whispered.

„Half of the circuitry was fused, and I kinda lost my enthusiasm when Katlin didn't return with the soldering iron I had asked her for." He smirked. „If Gres fired it now, the feedback would probably blow his hand off."

„Good. I mean, good that it's not functional," Zana amended hastily.

Burke's grin widened. „Hell, Zana, I knew you had a bit of human in you!"

„It seems to rub off," she murmured. „Katlin probably forgot about your tool when she heard the news of her comrade's death."

„She was there?" Burke remembered Katlin's face when she had told him about her husband.

„I thought she'd faint." Zana sat down opposite of him on the floor and leaned against the wall. Burke suddenly wished for a beer. It was almost cozy here, despite their conversation topic.

„How did she react to Gres' plan?" He didn't want to believe that she'd be okay with it.

Zana slowly shook her head. „It was hard to tell - she seemed too shocked to react to Gres' announcement."

„I could talk to her... perhaps she'll help us," Burke ventured. 

Zana stared at the counter above his head, probably calculating the odds that Katlin would call the guards instead.

„You know her better than I - if you trust her, so will I," she finally said.

He didn’t know her better, and he didn’t want to calculate their odds that Katlin  _ wouldn’t  _ call the guards; but for some reason, Burke couldn’t imagine that she would be fanatical enough to sacrifice Lora’s life… and his, maybe… for Gres’ vision. 

Katlin wasn’t like that. She had a sense of honor. He just hoped it was stronger than her sense of duty. 

Burke nodded. „Fine - I'll find Katlin, you'll get Lora..."

„I told you, the door is locked," Zana reminded him.

Burke smiled his best car-dealer smile and laid a hand on her shoulder.

„No worries, dahling - I'll show you how to pick a lock."


	12. Chapter 12

Burke found her in the little hole she called her room, cleaning her rifle.

He leaned in the doorframe, waiting for her to look up or acknowledge him in any way, but she kept her gaze stubbornly on the weapon; perhaps pushing the brush down the barrel a bit too forcefully.

„I heard about your comrade,“ he finally said. Katlin didn’t answer, just stabbed at her weapon once more. Burke sat down beside her and picked up one of the flannel rags. „I-“

Katlin held up her hand to stop him. „Don’t say it.“ She took the rag out of his hand and stuffed it into the barrel. „No ‘I’m so sorry for your loss’, or ‘I grieve with you’, or-“

„’s not what I was gonna say,“ Burke said softly.

She still refused to look at him, keeping her gaze on her hands, the rags, the gun, anywhere but him. „So what were you going to say?“

„I’m worried for my friend,“ Burke said, and watched her hand tearing at the flannel, winding it into a rope, tighter and tighter, until he plucked it from her fingers. “No, scratch that - I’m scared shitless.” 

She picked up another rag and began to wind it up again.

_ Talk to me, Katlin!  _ „Were you close?“ 

„He was my husband’s brother.“ She stared at the wall across the room, gripping the barrel with both hands as if it was a lifeline. „He killed the ape that clubbed Evan to death, and vanished into the Forbidden Zone. A year later he knocked at my window at night... he looked terrible, starved, and with an infected leg... but he had a fire in his eyes that I’d never seen before.“ 

She turned to him, her own eyes bright with tears. „Hope. He finally had hope. You wonder why we’re all following Gres, why we’re willing to die for him… It’s because he gives us the most precious gift of all - hope.“

„Hope is a liar, many believe her,“ Burke said with a wry smile on his lips, „but man’s deceiver was never mine.“

Katlin frowned. „Are you quoting one of the apes’ scrolls at me?“

Burke sighed. „No. No, it’s a human poem, by someone who discovered that hope isn’t a gift.“

„Then what else is it?“

„A bait.“ 

Kaitlin shook her head. “You know that’s not true. Don’t tell me you have no hopes… no dreams...”

Well, he was hoping that Urko wouldn’t find them, and that they would reach those mountains, and that the stories about the City’s reach ending there were true, so maybe he shouldn’t preach about getting one’s hopes up. But that didn’t mean he’d ever agree with Katlin on Gres and his lies.

„I was thinking about what you said earlier,“ he said instead. „That we don’t get to choose if we take part in a war or not. And I guess you were right: we really don’t get to choose. And as a human, you don’t even get to choose which side to be on.

„But there’s things we  _ do _ get to choose - like who we ally with. Or how dirty we’re willing to fight.“ He leaned over and caught her wrist. „Don’t tell me you’re okay with Gres killing that girl.“

She yanked her hand back and he let go. „No, I’m not okay with it. Are you done?“

He stared at her, willing her to meet his eyes. „Help me to get her home.“

She ground her teeth. „Do you really think the prefect would pardon me if I did? Or that Gres wouldn’t send his whole army after me?“

„No. But I still think you’d prefer that to being an accessory to murder.“

Katlin let her hand drop into her lap and took a deep breath. „I thought I was... _we_ were fighting for a better future, Pete. And that all those sacrifices we’re making were the price we had to pay... all those losses. All the little compromises. And then the big ones. I did some pretty... I did things I’m not proud of. And I’ve stepped over so many lines that I don’t know where I stand anymore.“

Burke resisted the temptation to put his arm around her shoulder. „I know there are a lot of assholes roaming these corridors,“ he said, and she even laughed a little at that, „but Lora ain’t one of them. She fully believes in human-simian equality. I mocked her in that underground hole of yours, but if anyone deserves your loyalty, it’s her, not Gres.“

„There are others like her,“ Katlin finally looked into his eyes, „many others - Kuma is the exception, not the rule. Gres thought we’d need people like him, people who don’t hesitate to kill when it’s necessary, but...“ She shrugged.

„Yeah, I don’t like him, either,“ Burke said dryly. 

Katlin bit her lip and carefully selected another rag. 

Burke waited patiently.

„What do you need?“ she asked after a long pause.

„Horses for Zana and Lora, and a way to keep Gres from following them,“ Burke said promptly.

Katlin frowned. „What about you?“

„I’m human, remember? We don’t ride.“ For once, he didn’t need to fib. „Don’t worry, I’ll find a way home, too. But Lora needs to be in town before they bash Al’s head in.“ He refused to let the image take form in his mind.

Katlin studied his face for a moment. „I’ll talk to my people,“ she said finally. „They’re frightened - they think Gres is pushing us into a war we can’t win.“

„He wants that escalation,“ Burke confirmed.

„We’ll provide your diversion,“ Katlin said, „and I’ll take the women to the stables. I still think you should go with them, Pete... Gres will kill you for this.“

„He’ll kill us both, if he can,“ Burke said. „So we better make sure he doesn’t catch us, eh?“

The gun thumped on the floor as she grabbed his head with both hands and kissed him fiercely. Thoughts of gun accidents flashed through Burke’s mind for a second, lit up and crumbled to ashes, burnt away by the sensation of Katlin’s lips on his, her hot hands on his jaw, his neck, the taste of her in his mouth as he tried to kiss her back-

He hadn’t fantasized about kissing her before, but if he had, it would’ve been a different kiss - slower, deeper; gentler. She was kissing him goodbye, he realized.

She released him just as suddenly. „Now go, get that girl,“ she said, breathless. „I’ll catch up to you.“

Burke stumbled to his feet, his body tingling. Right now, he was willing to let Lora meditate about her foolishness for a little while longer... but Zana was also in danger. There just was no time for... with a sigh, he turned to the door.

He was already halfway in the corridor when Katlin called him back once more. Her eyes were dark in the dim light of her room.

„Don’t you dare to die on me!“

* * *

During her Community Work Year, Zana had learned to meditate; now she wished she’d maintained the practice - maybe she’d have been able to calm her racing heart then. And calm her shaking hands, too: this was the third time she missed the lock. Constantly looking over her shoulder to see if someone caught her bent down before Lora’s jail door was also costing precious time, but Mothers, she just couldn’t help it! Every time she turned her back to the corridor, the spot between her shoulder blades began to itch and urged her to check that she still hadn’t been detected.

She wished Peet had taken over this lock-picking job himself; the human was quick like a racoon! But Peet was off to convince that human lieutenant to help them, and Zana just didn’t know the woman as well as he did, and there was the species barrier - no, they couldn’t have traded places. With a sigh, she tried it again. It had looked so easy when Peet had shown her...

„Here, let me help you.“ A weight fell on her neck and in the next moment, a blinding pain cracked through her skull and stars exploded before her eyes. As she crumpled to the ground, she thought with dazed wonder that it was true, it really looked like exploding fireworks...

... and then the pain swelled until she thought her head would explode just like those rockets, blooming into a bright red all over the corridor.

She was aware that her attacker had grabbed her collar and was dragging her across the floor, but the sensation was dim, overpowered by the intense pain and the feeling that hot liquid was flowing down the top of her skull.

Then everything went dark.

It took her a moment to realize that she hadn’t fainted, but was lying in a unlit room. Somewhere in the darkness, someone was sobbing. For a moment, Zana just lay there, wishing to pass out for real just to escape her headache, but then her sense of responsibility kicked in, and she rolled onto her belly and drew her knees under her.

_ Alright, now you just have to push up until your head is above your neck, where it belongs. _

The pain exploded anew when she realigned her body and for a moment she thought she’d throw up. She breathed slowly through her nose until the nausea subsided.

„Lo...“ She cleared her throat. „Lora? Is that you?“

The sobs became louder, but the girl neither moved nor answered.

„Lora, please. Don’t make me come over to you.“

„So you can gloat?“

Her headache made it impossible to roll her eyes. „I could do that comfortably from over here, but no - our situation is too serious for gloating. I’m locked in here with you, if you hadn’t noticed.“

Lora sobbed harder. Zana held her skull together with both hands.

„Lora, please - you’ll only make yourself sick. Don’t cry; Peet will get us both out of here.“ Mothers, she hoped so!

The girl still didn’t answer, but the sobs subsided. Then Zana felt Lora’s arms around her, her hands feeling for her skull. „I’d like to ask you how many fingers you see, but it’s too dark for that. Do you feel dizzy, or nauseous, or...“

„Yes,“ Zana said dryly. „Whoever that was rammed my head against the wall. I also have a splitting headache, in case you were wondering.“

„That was Kuma.“ A short pause, then, „I’m sorry, Zana, for yelling at you earlier.“

That’s  _ what you’re sorry for? _ She reached out and patted Lora’s shoulder. „That’s alright. Don’t think of it anymore.“

„I can’t think of anything else,“ Lora said, her voice thick with tears. „I always swore I’d sacrifice anything for the cause, and now that I’m being put to the test, I’m not ready. I’m such a failure!“

For the first time, Zana was grateful for the darkness of their jail; it made it impossible to find the girl’s face and slap it. „Gres isn’t sacrificing you for the cause,“ she said sharply. „He’s using you to force Aken’s hand - he’s escalating this conflict to such a degree that your uncle will be forced to send for  _ Urko _ to help! Do you have any idea what that means for the humans you’re so eager to protect?“

„That’s insane! Why would he want to do that?“ Lora hissed.

„Because he has a room full of pre-Blast weapons and a human who can repair them!“

Zana cursed herself for having let that information slip; yes, she had been tired and frightened, and Gres was a skilled interrogator, but she didn’t find any of these arguments sufficient to excuse her mistake. In a way, she had set off that avalanche.

The weight of that realization silenced her. She really had no right to tear into Lora that way.

But she had to talk sense into her. If -  _ when _ Peet would open that door, Lora had to be willing to leave with them; they couldn’t knock her out and drag her away.

„Gres now thinks he has a material advantage over Urko and your uncle, one that they can’t possibly know of; so he wants that war, he wants that decision, now - and he doesn’t care how many humans, and how many apes from the HLF will die for his dream.“

„And what if they do? If he really has those weapons, he could force the Council to accept the humans as equals...“

„But why would he do that, once he has won his war? Once he doesn’t need them anymore?“ Zana reached into the darkness, found Lora’s hands and squeezed them.  _ „Think, _ Lora! You love nothing more than justice for all - would you go out and kill Katlin, or Mano,“ she couldn’t think of anyone else they both knew, „just to get back at your uncle? Just how many deaths are justified for the great cause? Where do you draw the line?“

„But if we do nothing, nothing will change!“ Lora protested; but she didn’t sound so sure anymore.

„You’re right, doing nothing is not the solution,“ Zana grasped for that opening. „So do something  _ different _ \- you’re smart, Lora, I remember how smart you were when I had you in my group,“ that was a lie, she didn’t remember very much about her, but Mothers, sometimes you had to lie for the cause, right?

„You can think of a better way to help the humans - without getting them all killed in the process. In fact, why don’t you start thinking of a new strategy right now? It’ll take your mind off Gres and the plans he has for you, at least.“


	13. Chapter 13

The junk looked somehow ominous in the flickering light of the single torch - twisted corpses of an unknown catastrophe from a long forgotten past. It had been easier to ignore their significance while he was still focused on figuring out that laser gun, but Burke forced himself to ignore the piles of decayed artifacts once more; he was here for the gun, not for haunted house thrills.

He had told the truth when Zana had asked him about the weapon - it wasn’t functional yet. But it was more functional than before, and he couldn’t risk Gres figuring out how the parts fit together and then reverse engineering a whole arsenal of them. Burke fleetingly imagined the HLF coming down from the hills, beams of colored light darting through the morning mist, making short work of a village... or a town. 

He didn’t want to have that scenario on his conscience.

A sharp pain stabbed through the thin sole of his moccasin, and Burke yelped, more from annoyance than agony. “Could’ve cleaned this room before they sent me down to build their armory,” he muttered and bent down to pick up the culprit.

It was a chess piece, and the sight of the little horse head let his irritation melt away. How many centuries had it been buried under all this junk? Burke wondered whose hand had played this Knight’s last game. Had they won? 

“They should’ve,” he murmured. “You’re a white Knight, after all. Like Katlin.”

If anyone deserved to win this war, it was her. Maybe he should give it to her as a good luck charm, although she wouldn’t understand the significance. But maybe she’d think of him when she’d see it, or touch it in her pocket…

Why should she want to remember him? He was just some random guy who had been sent to get Lora back into the prefect’s hands, and then persuaded her to mutiny against her rebel leader. He had made her life more difficult. She’d have no reason to even accept that piece of junk. 

Burke weighed it in his hand, half determined to throw it back into the darkness, where it belonged: a lone, useless token, a witness of mankind’s failure. A thing of the past that didn’t belong into this world anymore.

Like him. 

He wondered why she had kissed him; he hoped that it hadn’t been just her nerves. Standing in the middle of his world’s corroded remains, Burke admitted to himself that he’d like to kiss her again; but more than that, he wanted to tell her about his world. What it had been like, before it went to hell.

He pocketed the Knight. If she didn’t take it, he’d at least know…

… this was stupid. They wouldn’t see each other again anyway, provided they both survived this night.

But he didn’t take the Knight out of his pocket again. He’d decide about it later, after he had taken care of the gun.

An icy prickle wandered down his back when he bent down to his makeshift workbench to retrieve the gun: it wasn’t there. He dug hastily through the surrounding junk.

„No need to worry - I got it.“

Burke froze, his heart rate jumping up to a frenzy beat. Slowly, he rose and turned around.

Kuma stood in the door, the gun trained on Burke’s chest. He hadn’t flipped the switch yet - the weapon was silent. Burke tried to calculate his odds.

There was a distinct possibility that the gun wouldn’t do anything when Kuma tried to fire it; or it could overload from a feedback loop and blow his hand off, or at least damage it, giving Burke an opportunity to escape.

Or he could get really lucky and the thing would fire one good shot. Beam. Whatever. Burke wasn’t keen on finding out. He slowly lifted his hands. „Careful, buddy - that’s not a banana.“

Kuma didn’t change his pose, still leaning casually against the door frame. „I told Gres you’d need closer supervision. Such a shame he didn’t believe me.“ He gestured with the weapon to the piles of machinery behind Burke. „You could’ve made yourself really useful. Instead you’re just another piece of junk.“

„Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be watching ape porn in some corridor?“ Burke felt sweat running down his armpits. Keep him talking, and perhaps Katlin would realize something was amiss, when she came to the storage room, and he wasn’t there...

„A little red bird told me.“ Kuma’s smile widened as he watched Burke’s face. „She and I - we’re really close, know what I mean?“

„Yeah right,“ Burke said in a strained voice, „I could feel the love when she told you to fuck off.“ He didn’t believe the ape. No way she'd do that...

Would she?

„Now I’d have loved to try out this thing on you,“ Kuma sighed, „but Gres wants it first. He’s the leader, so he has first dibs.“ He stepped back into the corridor and waved for Burke to come over to him.

„Time to meet your friends. I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you again.“

* * *

„Thank you for agreeing to see me.“ Galen took a moment to let his gaze wander over Aken’s desk, noting the neat stack of scrolls in one corner. Except for a heavy stone ashtray, the rest of the surface was empty - here was a man who preferred to have all decisions made and all problems solved at sunset. It fit with his response to Gres’ challenge.

Galen realized that he intended to wrest a concession from Aken that ran counter to the prefect’s temperament: delay Alan’s execution, reconsider the wisdom of his strategy. He suppressed a sigh; most probably, the length of the delay would equal the length of this conversation.

„I’m merely satisfying my curiosity,“ Aken said, ostensibly engrossed in the process of packing his pipe. He gestured at the seat across his desk without looking up. Galen obediently sat down and waited for the prefect to acknowledge him.

By now, both Galen and Aken knew that Gres wouldn’t let Lora go; but contrary to Aken, Galen was still sure that Peet would find a way to bring her home... her and Zana. It would have been difficult to keep to Aken’s tight deadline even under the best circumstances, but now, with Peet being forced to use either stealth or force to get the women out, it would be impossible.

Galen suspected that this fact wasn’t entirely unwelcome to Aken, and once again, he wondered about the prefect’s relationship with his niece. This degree of callousness for the sake of political advancement wasn’t unheard of back in the City, but he hadn’t expected to find it here.

Aken had finished stuffing his pipe and was now laboriously lighting it. When he had succeeded in puffing a cloud of blue smoke, he finally squinted at Galen. „So?“

Galen smiled faintly. „I was wondering when you’d set a date for my trial, Prefect, and, and about your choice of legal counsel for me. It may have escaped your attention, with all the excitement going on on the main square, but I haven’t met my lawyer yet.“

Aken said nothing for a moment, regarding him steadily through the drifting smoke. „Your human will provide the next ‘excitement on the main square’ before it’s your turn, so there’s no need to hurry me - you’ll get your counsel in due time.“ He leaned across the desk to reach for a bell to call the guard, but stilled when Galen held up a hand.

„Actually, that’s the other thing I wanted to talk to you about,“ Galen said, still in his most gentle, most polite voice. „Since I studied the law before I decided to take over my father’s business,“ he was still posing as Yuma, not-quite-successful businessman, „I’m capable to represent myself at court, and in that capacity, I’d like to see the evidence for my alleged crimes."

Aken raised his brow. „Evidence? My officers caught you in the company of the rebels, in one of their dens. Any court will see this as sufficient evidence of your complicity, more than sufficient - how else would you know of their hiding holes?“

„I told you, they had taken us prisoner just moments before,“ Galen repeated tiredly. „By the same logic, we are in your employ simply by virtue of enjoying the amenities of your jail right now. I assure you, you’ll need more than just our proximity to your rebels to convince a proper court. Which means you better come up with some actual, solid evidence of our involvement, and that includes,“ he held up a hand when Aken opened his mouth, „evidence against my human.“

The prefect frowned. „Evidence against the human? I told you we don’t bring them to trial - they’re put down like the dangerous animals they are. When a rabid fox starts raiding your henhouse, you kill it. When a horse gets ill-tempered and tries to trample its rider, you kill it. And when a human starts attacking our citizens, you kill it. There’s nothing to review here.“

„Your examples are quite interesting,“ Galen said, fighting to keep his revulsion from showing on his face. „A fox is a wild animal without an owner. It’s the right of the owner of the henhouse to protect their property against it; but a horse has an owner - if it becomes a menace to its rider, it’s the owner’s right to dispose of it; and when the horse tramples another ape, it’s still the  _ owner _ who is held responsible, not the horse, since he horse can’t commit a crime.

„That is the same argument that’s being made against humans: they have no soul, and so have neither an independent will, nor the ethical capacity to realize the wrongness of their actions. They cannot exist independently, but only as property of an ape, which means that you can’t just kill my human without my consent; that’s theft.“

Aken grinned. „An almost-lawyer, huh? Well, if your horse tramples another ape, you’re obliged to pay for the damage, that’s right. But the prefect can still decide that your horse is a danger to the community and has to be put down.“

„Yes,“ Galen conceded amicably, „the owner has to pay compensation to the injured party - which is why you can’t just  _ claim _ that your damage has been caused by that horse without providing evidence.“

Aken stared at him. Galen calmly returned his gaze. They were back at the question of evidence. Aken didn’t have it; Galen knew that he didn’t; and Aken knew that he knew. On the other hand, the prefect had all the power. Still, from what Galen had been able to learn, the Chimpanzee was still trying to uphold the law. It was an interesting situation.

He just wished he wasn’t the involved party.

Aken sniffed. „You know that this isn’t the majority opinion among the scholars. I won’t claim to be one of them, or even a lawyer, but I know that when a human attacks an ape, we kill it to make an example of it to its herd... to discourage rebelliousness. They may lack souls, but they’re smart enough to draw conclusions from the fate of that individual. And I’m willing to compensate you for your loss - if you don’t hang for being a member of a terrorist organization, that is.“

Galen decided to ignore that threat. „So you admit that this has nothing to do with the law, or impartiality, or justice, and everything with political convenience?“ He gestured towards the flag of the district that was proudly displayed on the wall behind Aken. „What happened to ‘Uphold the Law’?“

„The Law is for apes,“ Aken said tersely. „Humans aren’t subjects of law - they’re  _ objects.  _ And no matter what you, or Dolan, or the other human-lovers think about it, I’m perfectly within my right to bash your creature’s head in.“

„Are you?“ Galen made his voice as frosty as he felt. „Are you sure you aren’t defrauding me of my property in order to serve your political agenda? You have a problem with your humans’ discipline on your hands, that much is plain to see for everyone.“

Aken opened his mouth, but Galen ploughed on. „I wonder what the Central Council would decide if I took this matter to them. If they would identify a dangerous precedent of prefects effectively dispossessing citizens of their property for purely personal reasons. I’m sure this will go over well with business owners in the southern districts especially-“

Aken growled.

The men stared at each other over the desk, a vast, empty plain. Galen kept his palms resting motionlessly on his thighs and his face carefully neutral. If Aken called his bluff, took him up on his challenge, and referred his and Alan’s case back to the City, they’d be both dead the moment they crossed the gates.

„There’s no need to appeal to the High Council.“ Aken rose, and Galen rose with him, knowing he was dismissed. „This case is unique enough that none of our esteemed businessmen has to worry about their chattle.“ He rang for Mika and gave Galen a wry smile. „It’s a shame that I’ll have to kill you, Yuma - I’d have loved to play  _ tiska  _ against you. I’m sure it would’ve been an interesting game.“

Galen bowed. „It seems to me that you’re already playing an exciting game against Gres, but from here it looks as if he has all your tiles, and blocked all your paths, Prefect. There’s still time to reconsider your strategy.“

But his plea just earned him a stony glare. With a tiny sigh, Galen turned to follow his guard back to his cell. He was already halfway out of the door when the prefect called on him.

„Don’t worry about the evidence, Yuma.“ Aken relit his pipe. „I’ll find all the evidence I need. I always do.“


	14. Chapter 14

Burke thought furiously as he crept down the corridor, trying to buy himself more time to come up with a last-minute plan. There was no way he could overpower five hundred pounds of gorilla, even if Kuma didn’t wield a weapon. He could only hope to take Gres by surprise, somehow, use him as leverage against Kuma... He’d have to improvise, see what opportunities presented themselves.

_ Brilliant plan, Pete. _

They turned a corner and Burke felt tension flow out of his shoulders and chest at the sight. Katlin and half a dozen of her people were standing in front of the still-locked door, their weapons piled on the floor before them. Gres was facing them, his gun trained on Katlin’s head.

_ I shouldn’t be so stupidly happy about that scenario. _

But it meant she hadn’t betrayed him to Kuma. Guilt mixed into his relief as he remembered his doubt. Better make it up to her by saving her life. But how?

Kuma gave him a little push to take his place among the rest of the would-be rescuers and handed the laser gun to Gres. The chimp weighed the weapon in his hand and sighed with mock regret.

„You really had a great future ahead of you, Peet - chief engineer, weapons master... you could’ve chosen the title yourself.“

„I think I’d have gone with Opperman,“ Burke said, and Gres frowned. Burke didn’t bother to explain the reference. „But that’s moot now, isn’t it?“

Gres smiled. „I really regret this, but in a way, you’re still serving the cause - as my first weapon’s tester.“ He raised the gun and pressed the firing button, and an ominous glow began to spread along its barrel. So option one could be ruled out. Burke shoved Katlin to one wall and retreated to the other.

„Keep your distance, I have no idea how broad that thing’s spread is!“ He focused on her safety, since it was no use anymore to focus on his own. „Drop, all of you! Don’t look at it!“ Behind him, he could hear shuffling noises as Katlin’s people obeyed.

The whine of the gun had risen steadily as the coil was powering up. Gres was pushing the button again and again, his face betraying consternation that quickly turned to worry. A sudden hope surged through Burke - the thing was overloading. Of course, it could still kill him; there was just no way of knowing - that tech wasn’t from his own time, after all. He dropped to the floor and covered his head.

A sharp crack, a cry, and a sudden smell of ozone and molten plastic made him jerk up his head in the next second - Gres lay on the ground, writhing in agony, clutching his wrist above a charred and bleeding mass of what had been his hand. Kuma was staring down on it, his attention diverted for a second.

At the other wall, Katlin threw her arm back, then lunged in one fluid motion. Kuma staggered and crumpled to the ground - whatever she had thrown had knocked him out cold. She didn’t lose a moment, leaped over to the pile of rifles, grabbed one, and aimed it at Gres.

„Open that door, Pete,“ she ordered.

_ Nice job saving her life, Pete. _

Burke got to his feet and went over to Kuma. The hilt of a knife protruded from his temple.

„I hope you’ll train  _ your _ people to search prisoners  _ thoroughly _ ...“ he murmured while he quickly patted the body down.

„I don’t intend to take prisoners,“ Katlin was still staring down her former leader.

Burke found the keys and went for the door.

„You should be grateful, Gres,“ he heard Katlin’s voice behind him. „We saved you from certain defeat. Now you can continue your little war with Aken.“

„There’ll be consequences,“ Gres gasped.

„You bet there will,“ Katlin said coldy. „My people will leave your organization. We’ll find a place where we can live in peace, without being anyone’s pawns.“

Burke finally found the fitting key and shoved it into the lock.

„There is no such place, unless you create one,“ Gres ground out. „Do you really think you’ll be able to do that without getting your hands dirty? That you’d be different from me?“

„Well, I intend to  _ keep _ my hands, for starters,“ Katlin said. Burke pushed open the door and hugged Zana, who stumbled into his arms. The fur on her head was crusted with blood. Behind her, Lora’s tear-streaked face peeked over her shoulder.

„What did those monkeys do to you, Zana?“ Burke held her at arms length and sized her up. Zana squinted at him.

„Peet? I don’t think I’ll make a career as a burglar...“ She squeezed her eyes shut and clutched her head. Poor girl had to have a pounding headache.

„Can you walk?“

„I can walk,“ Zana confirmed. „Don’t worry, Peet, it takes more than a Gorilla to crack me.“ She let him support her all the same. Behind them, Katlin’s people picked up their weapons to escort them to the stables.

Katlin ordered Gres into the storage room and had Kuma dragged into it, too. That would only buy them a little time, though.

„Where are we going now?“ Lora was still clutching Zana’s robe.

„You’ll probably hate me for this,“ Burke said to Zana who was still holding her head, „but I have a horse waiting for you...“

* * *

Katlin had the horses ready outside the compound, for which Burke was grateful; he had gaped at her when she had told him that the stables were underground, too (and had wondered how they managed to keep them sufficiently ventilated), and he’d had to clamp down on nightmarish visions of having to fight their way through the corridors with screaming, rearing horses at their back.

Little stone-face was holding the reins, which meant he wouldn’t be shooting at them, and Burke felt a little spark of hope that they’d actually get the women out of here alive. He helped Lora up her horse, and turned to Zana. Katlin had already mounted.

„Where’s your horse?“ Zana asked, leaning against the side of her horse. Burke shrugged.

„City kid - I’d probably slide off the moment it moves. I’ll get away the same way I came here.“ He lifted his foot and wiggled it.

Zana grabbed his arm. „When you came here, you didn’t have Gres’ people coming after you! They have horses, Peet! You’ll never outrun them!“

„Guess I’ll have to outsmart them, then.“ He shook his head when she opened her mouth. „Look, you only have a few hours left until morning. You need to get into town in time, or they’ll crack Al’s skull like an egg. You can’t stop every mile to let me climb into the saddle again.“ He patted her shoulder. „Don’t worry about me, Zana - I’ll catch up to you, promise.“

He stumbled when Zana suddenly pulled him into a fierce embrace. „I’ll hold you to that promise,“ she said hoarsely. Then she let go just as suddenly and mounted her horse.

„You know our assembly place at the pyramid ruins?“ Katlin asked stone-face. The boy nodded. „Get the word out to our people to meet there. If it’s possible without being detected by Gres’ faction, they should try to bring as much weapons and supplies as they can, oh, and get all the horses out, even those we don’t need.“

It was this world’s version of slashing your enemy’s tires, Burke supposed.

„I’ll try to meet you there tomorrow.“ Katlin steadied her nervous horse. „If... if I don’t turn up by sunset, you need to go without me.“ She held up her hand to hush the murmurs. „Actually, I’d prefer if you don’t wait for me at all, but I know you’d just disregard my orders, and we can’t start our own movement with insubordination, can we?“

A few chuckles made the rounds; Burke smiled sadly.

„If I don’t return, go and find some place on the other side of the Zone. Yes, I know, the apes have been telling us all kinds of horror stories about the Zones, but we’ve been holing up in this one for years and were fine, so - don’t believe everything you hear. At least the apes won’t follow us, if they believe their own stories.“

„Does that mean we shouldn’t go with you?“

Burke craned his neck. The speaker was an ape, he realized to his surprise.

Katlin shook her head. „Everyone who believes in human-simian equality and is willing to live and work together in peace and freedom is welcome to go with us. We’ll create that place that Gres always promised us, without the bloodshed that he set as a price.“

The cheers were whispered - they were all aware that Gres’ people were just a shout away. Burke patted the neck of Katlin’s horse.

„I told you you’re fit to lead your own resistance,“ he said. „Have you thought of a logo for your movement?“

„A logo?“

„A sign, a symbol to show people at a glance what you stand for.“ He pulled something from his pocket. „I found this in the junk room, and... I thought it’s fitting.“ He handed it up to her.

„What is that?“ She brushed her fingertips over it.

„It’s a piece of an old human board game. They called it a Knight, but it’s a horse head, see?“

„A horse head...“ Katlin mused.

„Yeah.“ Already he was feeling silly. „Bonded humans mustn’t come near horses on pain of death. Only free humans ride them.“

„I see.“ He saw her swallow in the pale light. She carefully pocketed the chess piece. Then she turned around in the saddle.

„Lora - get into the saddle behind Zana. She has a concussion, you make sure she doesn’t fall off her horse.“ She turned to Burke.

„You take Lora’s horse.“

„I told you I can’t ride!“ Burke protested.

„Don’t argue with me, Pete.“ Her tone allowed no further objections. She’d probably tie him to the saddle if he didn’t obey. Grumbling, Burke grabbed the withers and fumbled for the stirrup.

„I never argue with women who have knives in their boots...“ He pulled himself up and eased himself onto the animal’s back.

_ Easy, Pete - you’ve climbed cliffs that were higher than that. Much higher. Without a rope. _

Katlin took the reins of his horse and put his hands on the saddle horn. „Just hold on to that,“ she said. „Leave the rest to me.“

„Okay.“ He swallowed. „Here we go. Here we g...ohhh...“


	15. Chapter 15

When the eastern sky changed from gray to pale yellow, Virdon found that he wasn’t prepared to die.

He was pretty sure he’d be able to keep up appearances and save his dignity, if not his life, but that didn’t change the fact that his heart kept leaping against his ribs and his hands shook in a steady, if light, tremble that he couldn’t suppress.

He hadn’t slept all night; he’d listened against all hope for the sound of hoofbeats, for Pete’s voice echoing from the houses bearing down on main square, for the door of his cell to open for his release. That door would open... but not for that.

And he had thought of his son. And of Sally, and he’d cried. Silently, and his head buried into the flat, lumpy pillow, to make sure he’d be alone and undisturbed with his fear, and his heartache.

Now he was staring down onto main square, where the execution platform was silently waiting for him. The town was still asleep; a few doves were waddling beneath the wooden beams, picking between the cobblestones.

He pushed away from the bars and turned to stare at the door. He... he should prepare for his walk, shouldn’t he? Make peace with his life, and his fate, and lay his soul into the hands of God... He wished for a priest, even a simian one would do, no matter what religion they had, but the apes wouldn’t send one for a human, just like nobody at home would send one for a dog that was about to be put down.

His head was empty; he felt like staring into a great void.

Like the last strands of a dream, words came back to him at last. „The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want...“ His voice was a low murmur. He didn’t want Mika to come gawking through the hole in his door, entertained by the humans’ antics. He wanted to have these few moments for himself.

Down on the square, the sharp crack of the announcer’s rods chased up the doves.

„Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...“

Another crack echoed from the walls.

„I will... I will fear no evil... but I do fear them! I do...“ He buried his face in his hands. „Help me,“ he whispered. „Don’t let me walk alone...“

The key was shoved into the lock of his door, and he quickly retreated to the far wall and rubbed his sleeve over his eyes.

Mika ambled into his cell and gestured him to turn against the wall. His hands were bound behind his back, and the warden took him by the arm to lead him out of his cell.

Where two chimpanzees were awaiting him. Virdon blinked.

He recognized the woman - Lora’s mother. The other ape had to be her husband. Virdon remembered that he had tried to convince the prefect to forego the executions; the couple had to feel differently now, when their own daughter would die from the hands of the rebels. Perhaps she was already dead. He swallowed.

„I had no part in your daughter’s fate,“ he said hoarsely, „but I still wanted to tell you that I’m so sorry for your loss...“

He let out a surprised little huff when the woman stepped forward and hugged him tightly. After a moment, she looked up to him and he saw that she had tears in her eyes.

„No, no -  _ I _ am sorry.  _ We _ are,“ she said. „We know you’re innocent, and, and, this is all so  _ terrible!“ _

„When a human is led up to the block, usually their family walks behind them,“ the other chimp said with a strained voice. „They do it to show their solidarity, I think. Aken had tried to forbid it, but without success.“ He smiled wanly. „One of the few things on which they defied him.“ He cleared his throat.

„Since you don’t have a family, Lilia and I will walk with you - and also to protest against this wilful destruction of a life. We know you had nothing to do with... with Lora’s...“ His voice failed him.

Virdon felt his throat constrict; he just nodded - he didn’t trust his voice right now, either.

But when the door opened to a golden morning, he found a strange calm descend on him, and his steps didn’t falter even once.

* * *

 

He was getting the hang of this. Really, he was.

After the initial jerk and shock of finding himself on a rapidly moving animal, Burke had adjusted remarkably well to the rhythm of the horse. It helped that they had started with the horses’ top speed, which translated into a rolling motion that was actually quite pleasant, as long as you managed to ignore the ground racing away underfoot.

Things had worsened after Katlin had slowed the horses down to a trot after a mile or so. Burke had always been pretty sure that he didn’t want to sire children, but he’d have preferred it if the decision hadn’t been taken out of his hands like that. He tried standing up in the stirrups, but found that he couldn’t keep that position for too long. Soon he was back to having his balls massaged... and not too gently. Then there was the burning pain on the inside of his thighs...

Nope, not sold on the horse thing.

Right now, the horses had been slowed to a walk, and although Burke’s body sighed with relief (some parts more than others), the urge to reach the town before sunrise made him itch to ram his heels into his horse’s sides. Only the fact that Katlin held the reins kept him from racing away.

That and the insight that he’d probably end in a ditch. Still...

„We need to hurry up!“

„We need to give the horses some breathing space, or do you want them to break down under you?“ Katlin’s voice softened with her next words. „I know you’re worried about your friend, Pete, but believe me, it’s no use whipping them into a gallop for the whole distance. We’ll be there in time, trust me.“

But the sun had already risen and was about to push off from the horizon when they stopped on the top of the hill overlooking the prefect’s town. Burke’s pant legs were sticky from the horse’s sweat and the poor creature was hanging its head - they had exhausted them despite the walking breaks. He leaned on the saddle horn and tried to catch his breath.

„Think they’ve already started?“

Katlin shook her head. „They need to round up the humans first. We could still be on time.“

_ Could, eh? _

„What if they decided on an early show?“

They spurred the horses into a last gallop, their hooves clattering over the cobblestones as if Urko’s army was coming into town. People jumped out of their way as they raced down the narrow alley towards the main square. Burke could hear a sharp, rhythmic clap even over the noise they were making.  _ Something _ was already underway there.

He kicked his horse in the flanks, and almost overtook Katlin.

They broke out of the alley and into the main square, Katlin spurring her horse on despite the mass of people filling the place, and the crowd parted before her like the Red Sea. From his position above people’s heads, Burke had a panoramic view on the execution platform, and on Al, kneeling before the block. A soldier had his hand on his neck, forcing his head down.

With a mighty jump, Katlin’s horse landed on the platform. The soldiers scattered apart, jumping off the platform to avoid being trampled down. She rode a tight circle around the block, a fiery angel claiming Al for herself. For them. Lora had jumped off her horse and joined her on the platform. She was waving her arms, preparing to address the crowd. At least now they wouldn’t be fired upon. Probably.

He brought his horse to a skidding halt before the platform and slid down its back like a wet noodle. At least his legs felt like wet noodles. He held onto the saddle for a moment, until he was sure his knees wouldn’t buckle. Behind him, Zana dismounted clumsily, though in her case, it was probably due to her concussion.

Burke helped her up the stairs, or perhaps it was the other way round, and stood there like a fool while Zana hugged the still kneeling Al, ruffling his hair and whispering something into his ear. Burke couldn’t see his face, but he thought he saw him swallow heavily.

„I want to say something!“

Lora’s voice rang over the place, silencing the crowd immediately. Burke let his gaze wander over the people - most of them were humans. He wondered if they hushed so quickly because they were used to obeying an ape, or because they were eager to hear her story - everyone had to know who she was.

And they had made a pretty dramatic entrance. Burke glanced towards Katlin, who was still sitting on her horse, her eyes fixed on something at the other side of the plaza. He followed her gaze. On the balcony of the town house stood a tiny figure, hands resting on the balustrade.

The prefect, overseeing the execution. Well, they had just switched the channel.

„Let’s see how you like the new announcer,“ Burke murmured.

„Most of you know me, and those who don’t can probably guess that I was the hostage of the Human Liberation Front... and the reason why this human was going to the block,“ Lora began. Burke was surprised how self-assured she looked. She didn’t hesitate or stumble over the words. Either she was a natural speaker, or it she was burning for the cause again.

Heaven help them all if she was both.

„As you can see, I’m no longer in their hands, and I’m in good health and unharmed. And that is only thanks to  _ these humans here _ \-  _ they _ saved my life, under mortal danger for their own lives, to get me here, back to my family, and back to ape society.“

Here and there, shy applause could be heard, but subsided quickly under the glare of the ape sentries who were still surrounding the square. Burke detected Lora’s father, Dolan, at the foot of the stairs to the platform; he had his arms around a plump chimp woman, probably her mother, keeping her from racing up the stairs and interrupting his daughter’s speech.

„This human,“ Lora made a half turn to point at Virdon, who was now standing next to Zana, his hands still bound behind his back, „had nothing whatsoever to do with my abduction.“

She no longer claimed to be a member of the HLF, Burke noted. Well, that wasn’t actually a lie - she had recently resigned her membership, just like Katlin and the human part of the Human Liberation Front. And if she wanted to bail out Katlin, blaming the whole mess on Gres was probably the smartest solution.

He wondered if Zana had coached her during those walking respites.

„He never was a member of the HLF, and neither were his friends. The prefect,“ her eyes honed in on her uncle up on the balcony, „had  _ neither right nor reason _ to let them suffer for his political troubles in this prefecture.“

Burke pursed his lips. Murmurs were springing up this time that didn’t abate when the soldiers frowned. The few apes among the humans were the loudest commenters, debating her words among themselves. If Burke hadn’t been standing on that platform, he’d have found the whole situation pretty entertaining.

„As terrible as the last days have been for me, they have also been enlightening,“ Lora declared, and Burke had to shake his head at her cheek - the long-term member of the HLF was about to proclaim a miraculous conversion from speciesist to abolitionist?

„I have witnessed how  _ humans _ \- that we’re used to thinking of as soulless  _ animals _ \- showed kindness and compassion for me  _ when they weren’t forced to do so; _ showed bravery and selflessness to  _ save my life _ and bring me home,  _ even though they knew _ that they would have to fear the  _ vengefulness _ of the prefect, and the  _ prejudices _ of the citizens!“ Lora’s voice had risen to a battlecry with the last sentence.

„She must’ve been working on her speech all night,“ Burke murmured to Zana.

„Actually we were working on it while we waited for you to get us out of the storage room,“ Zana murmured back. Burke smirked; so he had been right with his theory that this was Zana’s speech.

„She’s giving one hell of a delivery,“ he whispered.

„She has talent,“ Zana agreed.

Judging by the cheers and applause from the crowd, that sentiment was widely shared. Lora waved for her parents to come up and hug her, while the applause was surging to new heights.

„Behold your new senator,“ Burke murmured cynically.

Zana shrugged. „She wouldn’t be the worst choice, if humans want to have their interests considered in the future.“

Burke sighed theatrically, but kept his thoughts to himself, when Lora untied Alan’s cords and hugged him, and then Zana, and finally, himself. He even got hugged by Lora’s mother, who was openly crying, at which point he felt mellow enough to return the hug with more than obedience. Katlin had been smart enough to remain in the saddle, so she escaped the group hug.

„Do you plan on touching the earth again some time?“ Burke asked her.

„I’m still hoping I can force my way out of here,“ she said, her eyes betraying her worry. Burke saw her knuckles blanch around the reins when a dozen soldiers were making their way over to them.

„It’ll be all right,“ he tried to reassure her. „Lora has put Aken under so much public pressure that he can’t chop your head off.“

„Apes don’t chop our heads off, Pete,“ she reminded him absently.

The soldiers came to a halt at the foot of the stairs.

„The prefect wants to see you in his office,“ their leader said. His gaze wandered to Katlin.

„All of you.“


	16. Chapter 16

Lora and her parents had insisted on accompanying them beyond the town walls. Burke wondered if it was just gratitude, or if Dolan mistrusted his brother-in-law to uphold his pledge of free passage for all, including Katlin. If so, he’d be forever in that ape’s debt.

„Are you sure you don’t want to join us?“ Katlin was asking him again. „Your group is practically a model of what we hope to build for ourselves. And we could use your skills, and I’m not talking about pre-Blast weaponry...“

He waggled his eyebrows at her, trying to lighten her somber mood. „Now whatever gave you that idea?“

She smiled, but just said, „I don’t deny I have personal motives...“

Burke looked to where Virdon got hugged - again - by Lilia. The matron had taken to him as if he was a little lamb; well, good for him, Burke supposed. With a deep breath, he turned back to Katlin.

„I... I can’t. God knows I’d like to.“ And it was true, and not just because he wanted to touch more than just her face. Katlin and her people were searching for the Promised Land, a place where apes wouldn’t put a boot on their necks. It was a place he longed to find himself. But...

„I can’t let Al wander off all by himself.“

„The invitation was for all of you.“

Burke shook his head. „He wouldn’t accept it. Al’s trying to get home to his wife and his son. He won’t stop until he does, or... until he can’t deny any longer that he lost them for good.“

The pain in Katlin’s eyes deepened, but she just nodded. Then she reached into her pocket and leaned down to him. He knew what she had in her hand even before he took it.

„You’re giving me back your engagement ring?“ he joked, but it hurt.

Katlin shook her head. „When your friend has found his answer, and you’re free to go... you’ll just have to show this around, and people will tell you where to find us.“ She straightened in the saddle. „We will not just vanish into the wasteland, like Aken hopes. We’ll provide a safe haven for humans and simian dissidents alike. I talked with Lora - she’ll keep the path open on her end.“

Burke closed his fist around the Knight. „You could call it the Pony Express.“

Katlin laughed. „Perhaps. I’ll think about it.“ She looked down to him and sobered. „Where will you go now?“

„Over the hills and far away. North, I think, and then... who knows.“

„Stay safe, Pete,“ she said softly. Then she leaned down and kissed him, just as gently.

And then it was time to leave; Katlin hurried her horse into the hills before Aken could rethink his generosity. Burke and the others followed her slowly on foot - they had decided that they’d walk inside the Forbidden Zone’s border area for now, to avoid another ape incident. Virdon worried that Aken’s report to the capital would catch Urko’s attention. Burke thought he’d rather risk meeting Gres’ people again, though the probability for that was low - their headquarters lay south of Aken’s town, and Gres was probably busy licking his wounds and staying on top of the power struggles that almost certainly would break out now.

„Are you okay, Pete?“ Virdon asked after a mile or so.

Burke touched the chess piece in his pocket.

„Guess I will be...“


	17. Chapter 17

**Earth, 2078**

Mom was still at work when Chris came home from school - chemistry was one of the few classes that still required actual student presence, mainly because Mrs. Paulson loved to use the lab. It meant that someone else had to pick up Helen from kindergarten and babysit her until either he or Mom came home.

Chris passed Anita on his way to the kitchen; their au pair lay on the couch, a holovisor clamped over her face, her arms jerking in a seemingly random manner. Chris suspected that she was playing that zombie apocalypse shooter everyone was crazy about in the chatrooms. He was totally out of the loop with these things lately... he had to cram too many physics lessons into his head to have time for gaming. It made him an outsider even among the nerds.

He shrugged and scooped an extra spoon of peanut butter on his bread. He’d never stopped being the new guy in that school, and it wasn’t as if he’d been out to seek friends anyway. Chris had graver things on his mind.

A slice of cheese on top of the peanut butter completed his creation; the combination always provoked a disgusted look from Mom and some muttered comments of „unnatural,“ and „abominations.“ Chris grinned at the memory; he knew she wasn’t really serious, even if she refused to even try a bite. Those looks were just part of the joke. Not like... not like the others. His smile faded.

Sometimes Mom looked at him as if the sight of him was painful to her. It was because he looked more and more like Dad the older he got. Everyone said so: Chris looked like his dad, while Helen took after Mom, with her dark hair and eyes. So whenever Mom looked at him, she was reminded of Dad, and then she missed him.

Chris swallowed heavily around the sandwich in his throat. He knew that feeling - you could go on for days and feel normal and then suddenly something reminded you, and your whole insides were grabbed by this terrible yearning and you felt you had to run as fast as you could to get that tension out of your system again. He’d tried it out, but running hadn’t made a difference.

He knew that Mom didn’t mean to hurt him when she looked at him like that, but it still felt like being punched in the gut every time. It wasn’t his fault that he looked like Dad. It wasn’t his fault that he wasn’t Dad.

He threw the sandwich in the trashcan and went back into the living room.

„Where’s Helen?“ He had to pull the earphones out of Anita’s skull to get a reaction.

„Ahh! Don’t do that! You give me a heart attack!“ She blindly batted at him as if he was a mosquito.

„Where’s Helen?“ Chris repeated, not letting go of the ear piece.

„Up in her room. Sleeping.“ Anita tugged at the cord. „I read her a story. She is a very nice child.“ _Unlike you,_ was the unspoken message. As if he’d care. Chris left her to her game and went up to his room. He had a bucketload of homework to do, but first he’d review the lesson that professor Hasslein had sent him on their secured channel-

He froze in the door. Helen stood on his desk, on her toes, head tilted back, arms stretched out towards his ships...

With two swift steps he was at the desk and grabbed her around the waist, frightening her into a yell and violent sobbing. He’d wanted to yell himself, but then she would’ve probably fallen off the desk and smashed her head in.

Instead, he grabbed her by the shoulders and brought his face nose to nose with hers. „You know you’re not allowed in here,“ he growled. „And you _mustn’t touch my stuff!“ Especially_ not his model ships that were hanging from the ceiling, safely out of reach of little grasping hands, or so he’d thought.

Helen was still sobbing, more from surprise than for fear of him. „I didn’t touch the ships!“ Her lip was trembling. „I just looked!“

„Yeah, looked with your fingers!“ Chris let her go. „I saw where your hands were!“ He shoved her towards the door as gently as possible.

Helen’s whole body went rigid as she dug her heels in. „Noo! I wanna see Daddy’s ship!“ She was weighing a ton all of a sudden, and Chris felt the last shreds of his patience evaporate. He pushed harder, and Helen fell on her butt and began to cry for real. For a second, Chris didn’t know if he was relieved that Anita was lost in zombieland and couldn’t tell Mom about the drama upstairs, or annoyed that she didn’t come up and take care of the baby. That was her _job,_ right?

„Stop the drama! And _get. out!“_

But now Helen had clasped herself around the leg of the desk. Whenever Chris managed to pry a pudgy hand off, she had already attached herself again to the furniture with her other arm, or her legs. Tears were rolling down her reddened cheeks. She was saying something, but Chris didn’t understand anything among the blubbers and hiccups, except for one word:

„Dadd-dyy!“

Chris felt heat rise into his face. „Dad would spank your butt for that tantrum! Why you’re calling for him, you don’t even know him! _He_ doesn’t know _you_! He’s never even met you!“ He clenched his fists, wishing for Dad to be here and take care of this mess, make this noise and turmoil go away-

„I’d exchange you for Dad any time! I wish he was here instead of you!“

Helen’s wailing stopped as if someone had pulled the plug, and the sudden silence pounced on Chris like a living thing. They stared at each other.

It wasn’t the trembling of her lip that made him feel sick to his stomach, or the tears that were still rolling down her baby face. It was the look in her eyes that made his own eyes burn and water. That wide-eyed shock and hurt that he felt every time Mom looked at him as if he was Dad’s ghost, or a pretender, not the real thing. When she looked at him wishing for someone else.

He crouched down and tried to hug her, but she still clung to his desk, and the haunted look in her eyes didn’t go away. „I’m sorry,“ he said, „I didn’t mean it. Really, I didn’t. I just want Dad back.“ It made his throat tight to say it out loud; and it embarrassed him a bit, made him feel as if he was just three, like Lennie. He awkwardly stroked her hair and she finally let go of the desk and crawled into his lap.

„So,“ Chris said, „want me to show you the ships?“

Helen sniffled, and nodded, and he got up and sat her on his hip so that she had a better view. He pointed. „That’s the _Daedalus._ That’s the ship they’re building right now, the one that’ll go looking for Dad.“ He pondered for a moment if he should tell her that he’d be commanding that ship, then decided against it.

„And that’s the _Hyperion._ That was the prototype...“ He realized that Helen wouldn’t understand the word. „That’s the first ship that had... that was so fast it could travel to the stars.“ He took a deep breath and pointed to the last ship, smooth and white like an egg, the ring with the HFG generators hovering around it like the rings of Saturn. „And that’s the _Icarus.“_

„Daddy’s ship,“ Helen whispered.

Chris swallowed. „Daddy’s ship.“

„It looks nice,“ Helen offered.

Chris said nothing. He loathed everything about that ship, its shape, its color, and he knew it was dumb, the ship hadn’t malfunctioned, it had been sabotaged, but still... „You don’t say ‘it’ to a ship,“ he corrected her, „you say ‘she’.“

„Whyy?“ The long, drawn out ‘why’ that was the only warning of a battery of ‘why’s’ incoming any moment now...

„It’s tradition.“ He stopped the next ‘why’ with a quick „Do you know which star Dad went to see?“

Helen shook her head, and he set her down on the floor again. „I’ll show you.“

He drew the shades down and closed the door, then switched on the holographic planetarium.

It had been Dad’s last Christmas present for him. They had marked the flight path of the _Icarus,_ from Earth all the way to Alpha Centauri. He and Dad had lain on the floor of the living room, stars floating all around them, and had played around with the thing, identifying constellations, and zooming in and out of stars and nebulas, until Mom had threatened to spend the rest of the holidays with the dolphins at the institute.

The look on Helen’s face made him forget the tightness in his chest - Chris couldn’t help but smile at her round eyes, and round mouth, frozen in a forgotten ‘oooh’. She looked like this was her first Christmas, her first Christmas tree in all its glory, only better. Infinitely better.

She pointed at Alpha Centauri, floating at the end of the lime-green streak of the Icarus’ flight path. Chris felt like crying every time he saw it, but he couldn’t bring himself to erase it - Dad had marked it with one sweeping motion. He’d been so eager to go.

„Daddy’s star,“ Helen said, and Chris found that his throat was tight all of a sudden, and there was a tingling in his nose that made his eyes water, so he just nodded, and Helen chatted on, oblivious of his silence, „That’s Daddy’s star. Where he lives, and he has giant wings from a billy and then he takes the wings and flies back to here. And then he tells me stories. And then he flies back because he has to let the ponies out and then he gives them hay. And carrots. And... and sugar.“

Chris stared into the holographic representation of local space and for the first time, didn’t see the stars. Instead, he saw the emptiness between them, the vast blackness where one could get lost forever. Professor Hasslein had said that he had enough data to reconstruct the _Icarus’_ flight path after her jump, but it was still just a guess...

„And then Daddy has to cook for the princess and then he has to play games with the princess. Because the princess is sad, because she is in her room all day and draws pictures. And she doesn’t wanna draw pictures anymore but then the ankleman comes in and wants to buy the pictures and-“

„What?“ Chris cleared his throat and switched off the hologram. „What’s an ankleman?“

„The ankle _man,“_ Helen repeated, as if that would explain everything. „He wants to buy the pictures.“

„Whatever,“ Chris muttered. „Look, I’ve got loads of homework,“ actually he wanted to go over Professor Hasslein’s stuff, „you can stay here if you’re quiet.“ There was no use asking Anita to entertain Helen; she’d just glue another holovisor on Lennie’s face like a space squid and tranquilize her with _The Bobos_.

Or with the zombie shooter. With Anita, you never knew.

He gave Helen some old-fashioned crayons and a stash of paper and set to work. When he looked over to her after an hour or so, she was deeply engrossed in her artwork. It was crude and childlike, but he’d recognize the shape no matter how distorted it was:

 _Icarus,_ boldly shooting toward the stars.


End file.
